WINONA, Minn. — The sun was shining, the weather was nearly perfect for running, and the 2009 SMU Alumni Open went off without a hitch Saturday morning.
That, however, wasn't why Saint Mary's University cross country coach Ward Berndt was sporting an ear-to-ear grin.
It was the Cardinals' performance at their only home meet of the season that had their head coach so happy.
David Feather (Oak Creek, Wis.) finished fifth overall, with teammate Peter Borash (Bowlus, Minn.) clipping at his heels, as the two helped the Cardinal men to a second-place finish, while Rachel Folan (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) raced to a third-place individual finish in guiding the SMU women to a third-place showing.
“This was a great day for us,” said Berndt. “On the men's side, David and Peter ran great races — they were really impressive. And on the women's side, Rachel turned a few heads with her performance, she did a great job.”
Feather clocked the Cardinals' best time, touring the 8K course in 22:49, while Borash stopped the clock in 22:50. UW-Stout swept the top four spots en route to winning the men's title, with Peter Johnston leading the with a time of 21:43.
Along with Feather and Borash, SMU's Robby McGuire (Rochester, Minn.) chipped in a 23:12, while #Benjamin Carlson (Rosemount, Minn.) and Quentin Moore (Minneapolis, Minn.) rounded out the top five with times of 23:31 and 23:33, respectively.
On the women's side, only UW-Stout's Alexa Ahler and Emily Stenzel were faster than SMU's Folan, as Ahler won the event with a time of 20:28, while Stenzel was second in 20:42 and Folan was third in 20:59. Fueled by those top two finishes, the Blue Devils edged Winona State by one point for the women's team title.
Along with Folan's third-place time of 20:59, the Cardinals' Emily Dee (Racine, Minn.) added a time of 21:50, followed by Ashley Acosta (Winnebago, Minn. / 22:09), Joanna Pace (Minocqua, Wis. / 22:19) and Jill Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn. / 22:38).
“After watching our performances today, there's no question we are farther ahead right now than we were a year ago at this time,” said Berndt, whose team is now off until Sept. 26, when they take part in the University of Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational. “I put a little pressure on everyone before the meet — I told them what I expected out of them today, and they really stepped up.”
