ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis cross country competed in all four races at the 2026 Under Armour Pre-National Invitational on Friday, highlighted by Oliwia Wawrzyniak and Sydney Gertsen in the Women's Blue Division 6K and Manny Vela in the Men's Blue Division 8K.

"Today was a good learning day for our men's and women's teams," SLU head coach Jon Bell said. "This was by far the most competitive field we have faced this season, combined with a challenging course and conditions. For the women, Oliwia had a great day. She put herself near the front group and competed well. Overall, we beat some good programs and we had the fastest 6K average we have ever had in program history.

"Manny Vela ran in the blue race today by himself, which is tough to do. He had no support of teammates, but competed well. He improved his position throughout the race which is good to see. The rest of the men competed in the white race. It was nice to see JD Haines and Brady Huggins bounce back from their performances at Notre Dame. The rest of the men could have competed a little better. We were a little off, which we need to get corrected these next two weeks."

Wawrzyniak led the Billikens in the Women's Blue Division 6K, placing 28th in a competitive field of more than 322 runners with a time of 20:00.7. That was the fastest 6K cross country time in school history. Gertsen also turned in a strong performance, finishing 112th in 21:03.2.

Clara Gillen (21:52.3), Tessa Bowers (21:58.5) and Maggie Zimmerman (22:35.1) also scored for Saint Louis in the Blue Division. The Billikens placed 35th as a team with 899 points.

Vela represented Saint Louis in the Men's Blue Division 8K, finishing in 24:28.9 to place 137th out of 339 competitors.

The majority of the Billiken men competed in the White Division 8K, where Saint Louis placed seventh with 195 points. Sophomore Ronnie Brown led the team, finishing 26th in 25:06.4. JD Haines followed in 78th place (25:39.4), with Jameson Tenopir close behind in 79th (25:40.1). John Giricz placed 83rd in 25:44.2, while Brady Huggins finished 99th in 25:56.2

Next up for the Billikens will be the 2026 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships, which are set for Saturday, Oct. 31, in Mechanicsville, Va.