St. Olaf Men's Results | St. Olaf Women's Results

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's cross country team competed in its first eight-kilometer race of the season Saturday afternoon, and if the Cardinals' performance is any indication, the future looks bright.

Very bright.

The Cardinals, fueled by the experience of David Feather (Oak Creek, Wis.) and Peter Borash (Bowlus, Minn.), placed fifth in the 14-team St. Olaf Invitational. The SMU women, meanwhile, settled for a 14th-place showing among the 16 teams competing.

“The guys had an awesome day,” said SMU coach Ward Berndt. “David and Peter posted one of their top two or three times in their (collegiate) careers, which was great to see.

“On the women's side, this whole season is going to be a learning experience, and today was another step in that process,” Berndt added. “Both teams were running their first 8K (men) and 6K (women) distances of the season, so it was good to get that under their belt.

“There's still room for improvement, but overall, I was very pleased with our performances.”

Feather led the way for the Cardinal men, crossing the finishing line in a time of 26:23 to place 11th overall, while Borash was close behind, placing 26th in 26:53. Jake Traxler (Le Center, Minn. / 27:23), Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn. / 27:24) and John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn. / 27:45) rounded out SMU's top five.

Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) fueled the SMU women's effort, stopping the clock in 25:29, while Amy Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn.) was right on her heels with a time of 25:34. Regina Quandt (Minneapolis, Minn. / 26:12), Katherine Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa / 26:17) and Beth Scott (Rochester, Minn. / 27:04) made up the Cardinals' 3-4-5 runners.

The Cardinals are back in action on Friday, hosting the SMU No Limit Invitational.