WEST SALEM, Wis. — Saturday's UW-La Crosse Drews/Neubauer Invitational was the one final "test run" before the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships for the Saint Mary's University cross country teams Saturday morning.
 
And, fueled by the performances of Granton Schneider (Moorhead, Minn.) and Caroline Gearin (Osceola, Wis.), it appears as if the Cardinals will be heading to the conference championships hitting on all cylinders.
 
For the fifth time in as many races, Schneider led the way for the Cardinal men, posting an eight-kilometer time of 26:14.3 — placing 10th among runners from the MIAC in the field of more than 420 runners — while Gearin was the SMU women's top finisher for the third straight race, breaking the tape with a six-kilometer time of 25:51.7, just one-tenth of a second off her collegiate best time.
 
Caeli McMahon (Holmen, Wis.) was the second SMU female to cross the finish line, stopping the clock in a career-best 25:54.4, with Kendra Klobe (Glencoe, Minn.) — making her first appearance of the season — close on McMahon's heels with a time of 26:00.3. Meghan Frosch (Oconomowoc, Wis. / 27:29.6), Abbie Meyer (Sauk Centre, Minn. / 27:43.9), and Amanda Tuvey (West St. Paul, Minn. / 29:16.6) rounded out the Cardinals' lineup.
 
On the men's side, Gabriel Bickerstaff (Rollingstone, Minn.) was the second Cardinal across the finish line with a time of 28:48.2, followed by Isaiah Brindamour (Hinckley, Minn.), who posted a time of 30:25.5.
 
Host UW-La Crosse took home the women's team title with 32 points. Saint Benedict was a distant second at 122, followed by UW-Oshkosh (167), Bethel (186), and Wheaton (198).  The UW-L men completed the team sweep, finishing with 42 points to edge out Iowa Central CC (49), with UW-Oshkosh (147), Saint John's (159), and Paradise Valley (174) rounding out the top five.
 
Saint Benedict's Fiona Smith won the women's race, posting a time of 20:58.5 to easily outdistance UW-La Crosse's Maddie Hannan, who was second in 22:02.4. Aurora's Deyanneira Colon Maldonado placed third in 22:12.1, with Amelia Lehman of UW-Oshkosh and Julia Anderson of UW-La Crosse rounding out the top five with times of 22:23.1 and 22:23.5, respectively.
 
Iowa Central CC's Aspel Kiprob outkicked Augsburg's Mohammed Bati to win the men's race with a time of 24:25.09, one-tenth of a second in front of Bati, while Paradise Valley's Gilbert Olivas was third in 24:34.4. Yared Kidane of Iowa Central CC was fourth in 24:47.3 and Isaac Wegner of UW-La Crosse placed fifth with a time of 24:47.7.
 
The Cardinals are now off until Oct. 29, when they travel to Highland Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn., to take part in the MIAC Championships.