The Bradford girls cross country team placed 18th in the Carlisle Meet of Champions Saturday.

“This is one of the premier invitationals in the state and the competition was excellent,” Bradford coach Mark Kelley said. “I wasn’t so much worried about how we placed as a team but more about the competition individually.”

Caitlyn Taylor was 37th out of 227 girls with a time of 21:15.

“(Taylor) continues to run at a high level and has put together a nice collection of races under 22 minutes,” Kelley said. “Caitlyn has always run her best in October so I know she will continue to improve.”

Korie Dixon was 50th in 21:41.

“This was (Dixon’s) first race of the year,” Kelley said. “She is just getting back into racing and this was a good start. Her stride looked great during the race (Saturday).”

Leila Bines was 85th in 22:17. “This was Leila’s best race I have seen her run and she PR’d by 20 seconds on a much tougher course. She has really stepped up the last few meets and has improved with each meet.”

Abbigail Schleicher was 143rd in 24:06.

“This was also (Schleicher’s) best race of the year,” Kelley said. “She really pushes herself in the first half of the race to get herself in the race.”

Mayla Smith was 153rd in 24:17, Elisa Hayden was 155th in 24:23 and Jennifer Bouquin was 188th in 26:54.

“(Smith) and (Hayden) continue to improve with each race,” Kelley said. “Mayla moved up a lot of spots in the last mile. (Bouquin) has put together two great races the last two weekends and that’s signs for good things to come in October.”

The Lady Owls return to action Tuesday, hosting Punxsutawney & Kane on Senior Night.

“I thought all of the girls ran hard,” Kelley said. “It’s a pretty rolling fast course so it gave them the opportunity to compete against a lot of talented runners. This sets us up well as we go into October with some big races at McQuaid and TSTCA in California.”