By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — It took a little longer for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota cross country teams to finally kick off their 2018 season, but for head coach Niels Anderson, it was worth the wait.
 
The Cardinals — who had their season-opening Saint Mary's Alumni Open cancelled due to rain and poor trial conditions — were in tip-top form Saturday afternoon at the Augsburg Invitational.
 
Danielle Franke (Mounds View, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinal women, clocking a six-kilometer time of 28:00.8 in helping Saint Mary's to a 22^nd-place finish, while Isaiah Olsem (Fulda, Minn.) notched a team-best eight-kilometer time of 29:43.0 to lead the Saint Mary's men to an 18^th-place showing.
 
University of Minnesota-Duluth took home the women's team title with 88 points, outdistancing runner-up UW-La Crosse (101 points). St. Olaf (122), St. Thomas (128), and UW-Eau Claire (135) rounded out the top five.
 
UW-Eau Claire's Sam Slattery took home the women's individual title, crossing the finish line in 23:32.7 to edge out UW-River Falls' Linsey Tolkkinen, who placed second at 23:48.0. Saint Benedict's Morgan Pierce finished third (23:54.04), followed by St. Olaf's Bryony Hawgood (24:05.9) and Mary Naas (24:07.2).
 
On the men's side, UW-La Crosse edged runner-up St. Olaf by six points for the team title, as the Eagles totaled 43 points to the Oles' 49. UM-Duluth placed third (115), with UW-Eau Claire (121) and Gustavus (196) rounding out the top five.
 
Josh Schraeder of UW-La Crosse won the event with a time of 26:48.8, edging UW-Eau Claire's Patrick Treacy, who was second in 26:58.0. Thomas Schultz of UW-La Crosse (27:02.5), Calvin Lehn, running unattached (27:07.3), and Willamette's Keith Carlson (27:11.2) completed the top five.
 
Emily Ortiz (Albert Lea, Minn.) was the second Cardinal female across the finish line, posting a time of 29:55.0, followed by Anna Marinc (Carol Stream, Ill. / 30:23.9), Emma Ririe (Darien, Ill. / 31:14.1), Erika Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill. / 31:33.5), Tabby Fabin (Elk Grove Village, Ill. / 32:03.1), and Julia VanWatermeulen (Ellsworth, Wis. / 32:12.2).
 
Along with Olsem's 29:43.0, Jordan Malikowski (Royalton, Minn.) posted a time of 31:01.4, followed by Jon Meaden (Rosemount, Minn. / 32.58.5), Tanner Moris (Crandon, Wis. / 33:26.9), Tyler Northey (Esko, Minn. / 34:18.9), and Marlon Barrett-Dwyer (Chicago, Ill. / 40:27.0).

The Cardinals are back in action on Sept. 28, heading to Eau Claire, Wis., to take part in the UW-Eau Claire Invitational.