The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Roy Griak Maroon III Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota, on Sept. 29 in St. Paul, Minn. The women placed third out of 29 teams on the 6K Les Bolstad Golf Course. The top finishers for St. Olaf were Jorden Johnson ’15, who placed eighth out 408 runners with a 22:36.4 time, and Emma Lee ’13, who placed ninth with 22:42.7. Rachel Dean ’13 came in 24th with a 23:45.3 time. In fact, all five scoring runners for the women came in the top 50. Meggie Exner ’14 came in 30th with 23:58.2, and Moriah Novacinski ’14 came in 45th with 24:13.7. The women’s cross-country team is ranked 11th in their conference.
The men also represented St. Olaf well, placing seventh out of 31 teams in the 8K. Grant Wintheiser ’15 led the team, finishing third out of 272 runners, with a 25:46.5 time – 14 seconds off the winning pace. The other top finishers for St. Olaf were Tim Lillehaugen ’13 who came in 35th with a 26:54.8 time, and Philip Meyer ’15 who came in 46th at 27:08.2. The men’s cross-country team is currently ranked 17th in their conference.
The men’s cross-country team has one more invitational at the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse on Oct. 13. The women will split up to attend three separate invitationals in Iowa, Indiana and LaCrosse, Wis., all on Oct. 6. As a team, they will accompany the men to LaCrosse, Wis. for a final meet on Oct. 13. Both teams are preparing for the fast-approaching MIAC Championships in St. Paul, Minn. on Oct. 27.
