Mustangs Place Four in Top 50 to Finish Ninth at National Catholic Invite

Notre Dame, Ind. — The Mount Mercy men's cross country team recorded a ninth-place team finish at the 2025 National Catholic Invitational hosted by the University of Notre Dame on Friday afternoon. The Mustangs compiled 204 points in the men's 8,000-meter championship race, placing four runners inside the top 50 of the scoring field.

Ryan Mitchell paced Mount Mercy with a 28th-place finish, crossing in 25:42.1. He was followed by Noah Gregoire, who clocked 25:57.7 for 31st overall, and Brady Cortez, who finished 34th in 26:10.4. Dylan Bledsoe rounded out the team's scoring inside the top 50, placing 44th with a time of 26:26.9.

The Mustangs' scoring five was completed by Jonathon Williams, who placed 67th in 27:20.7. Mount Mercy also had Jack Stamp (71st, 27:35.5) and senior Quinn Swift (74th, 27:44.2) displace other team scorers.

Mount Mercy's total time of 2:11:38 resulted in a 26:20 average per runner and a 1:38 spread from its first to fifth finisher. The Mustangs finished ahead of the Notre Dame Running Club, Mercyhurst, St. Francis (Ind.), and Thomas More in the 13-team championship field.

Notre Dame claimed the team title with 20 points, sweeping the first four scoring positions and placing all five scorers in the top 10. Loyola (Ill.) finished runner-up with 55 points, followed by Lewis (110), DePaul (135), and Detroit Mercy (154) to round out the top five.

Individually, Notre Dame Daelen Ackley won the race in 23:48.4, edging teammate Cameron Todd by one-tenth of a second. The Irish placed all four of their top runners within the opening 24:08.

For the Mustangs, Friday's performance marked the team's lowest point total at the National Catholic Invitational since joining the meet field.

The Mustangs will return to action on Saturday, October 4th, as they host the Seminole Stampede at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The race is set to start at 9:30 a.m. 

Mount Mercy Scorers
28. Ryan Mitchell — 25:42.1
31. Noah Gregoire — 25:57.7
34. Brady Cortez — 26:10.4
44. Dylan Bledsoe — 26:26.9
67. Jonathon Williams — 27:20.7

Team Score: 204 Points (9th Place)