CHICAGO — Senior Milaina Almonte broke the winner's tape and the Santa Clara University women's cross country team earned a fifth-place finish Friday in the open race at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola Chicago at the Sydney Marovitz Golf Course.
 
Milaina Almonte blew away the competition Friday in grabbing her first individual win of 2026 and the second of her career. Almonte beat the entire field by 14 seconds, crossing the finish line in first place with a time of 20 minutes, 14.82 seconds, over the 6-kilometer course. She led wire-to-wire and made her biggest move with a strong kick over the final 1,000 meters, growing her lead from six seconds through 5 km to 14 seconds at the finish.
 
Sydney Lim gave Santa Clara two among the top-15 with a 14th-place finish in 21:03.23. Olivia Schlieman put three Broncos in the top-20 with a 17th-place showing in 21:10.66. Julia Russo was the Broncos' No. 4 runner in 36th place with a time of 21:42.79. Freshman Stella Newman rounded out the Broncos' top-five, placing 50th in 22:01.65.
 
Fellow freshman Sophie Bair was right behind Newman in 52nd, turning in a time of 22:05.93. Sarah Guralnick capped Santa Clara's scoring seven, finishing 64th in 22:34.18. Aliyah Yearian (65th, 22:36.95), Isabella Gonzalez (68th, 22:40.52) and Kiera Kime (69th, 22:42.16) also competed for the Broncos.
 
Santa Clara scored 100 points in finishing fifth as a team. It beat squads from DePaul (6th, 131 points), Wisconsin (7th, 153) and Southern Illinois (8th, 228). The Broncos were only 20 points behind No. 12-ranked Northwestern (4th, 80 points).
 
Santa Clara next competes in its own Bronco Invitational on Oct. 17 in Sunnyvale, Calif.