Men's Results | Women's Results

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) and Katie Stolz (Forest Lake, Minn.) have been leading the charge for the Saint Mary's University cross country teams all season.

And Saturday was no different.

Haley posted an eight-kilometer time of 26:51 to lead the SMU men to a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional Saturday afternoon, while Stolz cruised to a 6K time of 24:06 to pace the Cardinal women's 20th-place effort.

“It was a good day all around,” said SMU coach Ward Berndt, whose men moved up two places from a year ago — recording the highest team finish in his eight-year tenure — while the women improved by three places over last year's effort. “It was kind of a slow, humid day all the way around, but I thought we battled through it pretty well.

“It was a nice way for us to close out a solid season.”

Haley, who set the school record with an 8K time of 26:00 at the Jim Drews Invitational earlier this year, finished 48th overall with his 26:51 time Saturday. Peter Borash (Bowlus, Minn.) and Jake Traxler (Le Center, Minn.), running in their final collegiate cross country meet, chipped in times of 27:12 and 27:20, respectively, while John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn.) rounded out SMU's top four with a time of 27:29.

St. Olaf captured the men's regional title, edging Central-Iowa by five points, while Luther, Saint John's and Loras rounded out the top five. Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf was the individual champion, stopping the clock in 25:20.

On the women's side, Wartburg blew away the rest of the regional field, beating runner-up St. Olaf by 23 points. Luther, Carleton and Gustavus completed the region's top five-finishing teams. UM-Morris' Linda Keller posted the top 6K time, crossing the finish line in 21:32.