WARRENVILLE, Ill. – The Harper College women's cross country team placed fourth overall and took top junior college honors at the College of DuPage Invite on Friday at the St. James Farm Forest Preserve.

The Hawks placed behind only University of Illinois (21 points), University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (45 points), and Wheaton College (88 points). Of the junior college teams, Harper placed first ahead of Pasco-Hernando State College, Joliet Junior College, College of DuPage, and Malcolm X College.  

Ali Gutt (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) once again led the way for the Hawks, placing ninth overall in a very competitive 5K race. Gutt crossed the finish line in 19:05.56. Leslie Rosiles (Mount Prospect, Ill./Rolling Meadows) was Harper's second runner, placing 20^th in 20:09.58. Dianne Barajas (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg) placed 24^th with a time of 20:23.81.

Silvia Catalan (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Veronica Brooks (Arlington Heights, Ill./Battle (Mo.)) rounded out the top five for the Hawks. Catalan took 28^th place in 20:35, and Brooks finished in 21:14.34 for a 41^st place finish.

Katie Thevara (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) captured 50^th place with a time of 21:36. Jacqueline Colon (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) was the Hawks' seventh runner in 75^th place, completing the course in 24:05.93. Teammate Cynthia Siddiqui (/Palatine) was right behind her with a 76^th place finish in 24:08.69.

Maggie Madden (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and Amy Nava (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) came in less than 10 seconds apart for the Hawks. Madden placed 81^st in 24:57.96 while Nava clocked in at 25:07.71 for 83^rd place.  Michelle Puma (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) earned 87^th place with a time of 26:38.92, and Nancy Leinwander (Inverness, Ill./Fremd) took 93^rd in 28:24.32.

Harper will run its next meet at the Illinois Intercollegiate at Olivet Nazarene on Friday, Oct. 2 at 4:15 PM.