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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University cross country coach Ward Berndt had a simple approach to Saturday's SMU Alumni Open — get out there and compete.

And compete they did.

Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) — competing in his first meet of the season — picked up right where he left off a year ago, placing second overall in leading the SMU men's team to a third-place finish, while Chelsea Tremblay (Hayward, Wis.) made the most of her first collegiate 5K in leading the SMU women's team to a third-place showing.

"This was an important meet for us, because it got everyone out and competing," said SMU coach Ward Berndt. "We needed a meet like this to be able to set the bar and see where we were really at.

"There is certainly still some room for improvement, but there are already some really good things show up."

Winona State, led by Billy Eifert's winning time of 21:36 won the men's event, edging Luther by two points, while the Warrior women completed the WSU sweep, stealing the top five individual places — led by Jessica Young's winning time of 19:18 — to outpace runner-up Carleton by 19 points.

Haley, a First-Team All-MIAC performer as a sophomore a year ago, posted an eight-kilometer time of 22:19 en route to his second-place showing, while John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn.) added a time of 23:03 to place 12th and Jase Pater (Arden Hills, Minn.) was 19th in 23:22. Gabe Thiel (New Berlin, Wis.) and Sherman Moga (Shoreview, Minn.) rounded out SMU's top five, stopping the cclock in 25:38 and 24:58 respectively.

On the women's side, Tremblay made the most of her collegiate debut, recording a six-kilometer time of 20:16 to place eighth and edge out teammate Katie Stolz (Forest Lake, Minn.), who finished 14th in 20:45. Allie Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill.) was 25th in 21:12, with Amy Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn. / 22:16) and Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn. / 22:24) rounding out the top five.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., to take part in the St. Olaf Invitational.