With 31 teams and 253 runners, Louisville’s E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park course was a bustling place Saturday. Seven Longhorns raced to a team 25th (526 points) in this year’s NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships.

Leading the pack, junior Marielle Hall sped through the 6k in 20:04.5 at 23rd overall. Within the next minute, junior Sara Sutherland’s 20:26.8 and Megan Siebert’s 21:07.9 earned the girls 58th and 153rd respectively.

“I knew we would have to pick it up a lot in the second part of the race,” Hall said. “I did my best to make that happen and was really happy with the result.”

Hall is the eighth UT athlete to earn cross country All-American honors. Her 23rd finish marked the highest Longhorn finish at the meet since 1989.

“What [Hall] accomplished is proof the program is moving in the right direction,” assistant coach Stephen Sisson said. “As far as the team goes, we are a bit disappointed. We thought we had a real chance to surprise people in the country.”

Oregon won the team title with 114 points and Iowa State’s Betsy Saina finished first with a course-record 19:27.9. The Longhorns’ 2013 indoor track season begins Jan. 12.