<rleton College women’s cross country team turned in a stellar performance at the St. Olaf Invitational. The Knights placed all five scorers inside the top 20 and finished second behind only the University of Minnesota, the No. 24-ranked NCAA Division I program.
The Golden Gophers totaled 24 points, while the Knights, who are ranked No. 9 in Division III, finished with 42 points. Minnesota State Mankato—a regionally-ranked Division II program—took third at 86 points. University of Manitoba claimed the fourth slot with 143 points, and host St. Olaf College rounded out the top five at 157, edging Macalester College by only two points.
“It was great to get our team back into competition after having been off the past two weekends,” said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. The team has put forth some solid training and demonstrated today that they are gearing up for the season.
“As we move forward the meets will become larger, and we will begin seeing teams outside the region that are talented and will challenge us. I felt today we gained some confidence in knowing what we need to implement as a team. I was pleased with their race structure and feel we are ready to take it up a notch.”
Amanda Mosborg (So./Edina, Minn./Edina) paced Carleton with a third-place individual result, crossing the line at 22:54.6. Emma Greenlee (So./Aurora, Minn./Mesabi East) was next to finish for the Knights, clocking a time of 23:07.8, good for sixth place.
Helen Schuda (Jr./Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) placed ninth overall at 23:39.1, while Sarah Nazarino (Sr./Seattle, Wash./Garfield) and Ruthie Boyd (Jr./Breckenridge, Colo./Summit) finished in the 16th and 18th spots among the 157 racer field. The first non-Carleton Division III student-athlete finished 20th overall.
Marietta Geist (Jr./Crookston, Minn./Crookston) and Sam Schnirring (Sr./Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) also placed inside the top-25, posting times of 24:17.3 and 24:24.1, respectively.
