Results: Men *
Women |
GameDay Preview
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — For the second straight Friday,
Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) and Allie Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill.) took the lead role for the Saint Mary's University cross country teams at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational.
Haley — who picked up his second straight SMU No-Limit Invitational individual title last Friday — clocked an eight-kilometer time of 26:08 to lead the Cardinal men to a 19th-place finish, while Thiel cut a minute off her season-best 6K time, posting a 6K time of 24:10 in helping the SMU women to a 21st-place effort.
"Overall, I was pretty pleased with our performance," said SMU coach
Ward Berndt. "We've still got a ways to go, but considering this was the biggest meet we've competed in thus far this year, I thought we had some pretty solid performances."
UW-La Crosse cruised to the men's team title, outdistancing runner-up St. Olaf by 26 points, while Central (Iowa), UW-Eau Claire and Lakehead University rounded out the top five. St. Olaf's Grant Wintheiser posted the top individual time, breaking the tape in 24:49.
On the women's side, the University of Minnesota took home team honors, finishing with 44 points, well in front of runner-up UW-La Crosse. St. Olaf, Winona State and Carleton finished in the 3-4-5 spots. Luther's Tricia Serres recorded the best women's time of the afternoon, stopping the clock in 21:47.
Along with Haley's effort, the Cardinal men also got a 27:23 from
Jase Pater (Adrian, Minn.) and a 27:58 from
John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn.), while
Jovan Newsum (Glendale Heights, Ill. / 28:04) and
Alex Davis (Champaign, Ill. / 28:53) rounded out SMU's top five.
On the women's side, along with Thiel's season-best performance, Bridget Hayes (Chicago, Ill.) added a time of 25:29, with Josie Moreno (Cicero, Ill.) and Amy Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn.) close behind at 25:42 and 25:46, respectively. Katherine Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa) completed SMU's top five, stopping the clock in 26:05.
The Cardinals are now off until Oct. 19, when they take part in the UW-La Crosse Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational in West Salem, Wis.
