WILMINGTON, Ohio -- A top-20 run by Beth Middleton and a top-40 showing by true freshman Payton McQuirt led the Shawnee State women's cross country program at the annual #JennaStrong Cross Country Classic Friday -- as the Bears finished 10th out of 22 programs in the event, which was held on the Wilmington College campus in Wilmington, Ohio.

Middleton, who ran a personal-best time of 19:42.3 in the 5K event, dropped her time by 18 seconds in doing so en route to setting her new PB -- claiming a 20th place finish in the 194-runner field as a result. Additionally, Middleton ran faster than all six NCAA Division I runners from Northern Kentucky that took part in the event as well as a runner from Eastern Michigan.

McQuirt, who posted a 20:09.9 in the 5K race, also ran faster than all six Northern Kentucky runners that took part in the race, finishing 37th overall to lead the true freshman class.

Fellow Shawnee State runners Kirsten Evans and Hadlee Cisco also posted strong efforts Friday, with Evans running a 21:09.5 in her first race back from injury and Cisco posting a 21:27.4 to nab a personal best that was 41 seconds faster than her previous 5K personal best. The duo finished 76th and 82nd, respectively.

Whitney Adams, who rounded out Shawnee State's official scoring runners with a 22:24.9, made a massive one minute, 19 second personal best jump in the 5K race with her time -- placing 107th overall to put three true freshman among the top five scoring runners for Shawnee State in the event.

"I was really happy with our seniors, Beth Middleton and Kirsten Evans, this evening," Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn said. "Beth continued to be a dependable force within the team, while it was great to see Kirsten Evans get back to it after a season of setbacks. I'm excited to see what's ahead for her."

Emma Hurst (135th, 23:23.6), Natalie Brammer (147th, 23:48.1) and Allana Pemberton (178th, 26:30.8) rounded out the Shawnee State women's cross country finishers in the race.

The women's cross country program at Shawnee State will be back in action alongside the men's cross country program in the Bears' final meet of the regular season -- the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, which is being held at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 25.

For more information on the Shawnee State men's cross country program, follow the Bears on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shawnee_state_xctf/.