Men's Results | Women's Results | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — If competing through injuries can tell anything about a team, it would say that the future looks bright for the Saint Mary's University men's cross country team.

Despite having two of its top runners hampered by nagging injuries, the SMU men managed to come within one point of team champion Winona State University at Saturday's SMU Alumni Open. Winona State won the event with 27 points, while the Cardinals were second (28) and Luther was third (75).

Bryan Lindquist of WSU won the event with a four-mile time of 21:28.30, while Jake Traxler (Le Center, Minn.) was the top Cardinal across the line, placing third with a time of 22:40.10.

SMU also had three more runners place within the top seven, including Peter Borash (Bowlus, Minn./22:43.30), Robby McGuire (Rochester, Minn./22:44.10), and Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn./22:50.30) placing fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively.

“On the guys' side, we have more depth this year than we have in the past,” coach Ward Berndt said. “Both Peter [Borash] and [David] Feather (Oak Creek, Wis.) are battling injuries that are holding them back just a little bit — but we had other people stepping in.

“Unfortunately we still lost by one point, but the fact was, we competed.”

On the women's side, the Cardinals placed third as a team, with Amy Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn.) leading the way with a time of 22:22.20. Kayla Gudmundson of WSU won the event in 19:48.40.

“On the women's side, we're young, and we're developing,” said Berndt. “We have a lot to figure out and a lot to learn. I think we came in with the right mindset. People were engaged the entire race, not settling, but rather getting after it.”

What has really impressed Berndt about his teams thus far has been the cohesiveness of the teams.

“Team spirit on both the men's and women's side has been great this year,” he said. “From camp, I've noticed that it's just been a higher excitement, higher energy level. Everybody is acting like they're on the team and that they belong on the team, so that's a big bonus and it kind of showed up even through the races today, too.”

Both Cardinal teams are now off until Saturday, Sept. 17, when they travel to Northfield, Minn., to take part in the St. Olaf Invitational.