OXFORD, Ala. – UWF women's cross country began the D1 era with a well-run performance at the Jacksonville State-hosted Foothills Invitational. 
 
Junior runner Sydney Orth earned her place in the top 10 fastest 5K times in program history, leading the team with a time of 18:24.9 and helping her team place 5^th out of 20 teams competing at Choccolocco Park in Oxford. As a team, UWF's top five runners all placed inside the top 50 out of 171 competitors.
 
Orth's time was the 9^th fastest in UWF history and shaved off almost a minute from her previous personal best of 19:14.7 at the UNA Invitational in 2025.
 
"We went into this one seeking a top 5 finish and it played out almost exactly as we expected," head coach Caleb Carmichael said. "Started and finished the race strong, we will need to work on the middle of the race, but it's the first race, so there's plenty of time to improve."
 
The Argos finished in front of other D1 schools including Troy, Alabama State, and West Georgia. They were close behind Samford and UAB in overall points. Auburn and Jacksonville State placed 1^st and 2^nd respectively as teams.
 
Sophomore Elyse Carmichael placed 26^th overall, with a time of 19:03.7. Freshman Kailyn Ford and Marissa Berger had great showings in their first 5K of their college careers, placing 34^th and 40^th with times of 19:37.1 and 19:46.3 respectively.
 
Junior Olivia Noack returned to the course and delivered a personal best 5K time of 20:03.2 to place 46^th overall. Madison Sims and Sierra Howard completed the day for the Argos, placing 58^th and 60^th with times of 20:29.1 and 20:34.6 respectively.
 
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The Argos are back in action on Friday, Sep. 18 for the Southern Showcase at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, AL. For news updates, meet results, rosters, bios, schedules, and more, visit GoArgos.com or follow @UWFXC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.