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

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Saint Mary's University cross country coach Ward Berndt was looking at Saturday's St. Olaf Invitational as the first opportunity to see how his Cardinal teams stacked up against the rest of the squads in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

If the Cardinals' performances were any indication, they stack up just fine.

The Cardinal men, behind the 12th-place showing from Peter Borash (Bowlus, Minn., placed fifth in the 21-team field — and finished third among the nine conference schools competing. The SMU women, meanwhile, placed 15th in the 22-team field.

“It was a good day for us,” said Berndt. “I'm not sure either team was at their very best, but I was pleased with the end results. This is a good meet for us, because it gives us an opportunity to see how we stack up against the other teams in the conference — not to mention other teams in our region.

“We've still got some work to do, but for an early season race, I'm happy.”

Borash toured the eight-kilometer course in 26:41 to place 12th overall, while Jake Traxler (Le Center, Minn.) and Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) gave SMU three runners in the top 35 with their 26:59 and 27:10 times, respectively. John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn.) finished 51st overall (27:44) to round of the Cardinals' top four.

Katie Stolz (Forest Lake, Minn.) led the way for the SMU women, posted a 6K time of 24:53 to finish 59th overall. Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) added a time of 25:32, while Allie Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill. / 25:36) and Clare Siska (Rochester, Minn. / 25:39) were the third and fourth Cardinals across the line.

Minnesota State Mankato easily outdistanced host St. Olaf to win the men's team title, while the Oles Grant Wintheiser posted the day's top time, stopping the clock in 25:36.

On the women's side, St. Olaf finished with 55 points, 37 better than runner-up Minnesota State Mankato. UM-Morris' Linda Keller was the top female finisher, clocking a time of 21:57.

The Cardinals are now off until Sept. 28, when they host the SMU No-Limit Invitational. The women's race is schedule for 4:30 p.m., with the men set to go off at 5:15 p.m.