WINONA, Minn. — All season, Saint Mary's University cross country coach John Skemp has said that his teams' focus was on peaking for their final two meets — the MIAC Championships and the NCAA Central Regional.

The Cardinals struggled at bit at the conference meet, settling for 11th-place showings in both the men's and women's races.

At the Central Regional, however, both Cardinals teams shined — with the SMU women shining brightest.

The top four Cardinal runners — led by junior Renee Willkom (Cadott, Wis.) — finished within seven seconds of each other en route to a 16th-place finish in the 22-team women's field.

"We had some great runs, both on the men's side and the women's side," said SMU coach John Skemp. "Your hope as a coach is to have all your runners peaking at the end of the season — for the MIAC and regional meets.

"We were able to do that," Skemp continued. "Our women ran a super-solid meet — Augsburg and Bethel both beat us at the conference meet, and we were able to overtake them (at the regional)."

Willkom toured the six-kilometer course in 24:34 to finish 85th overall. Theresa Miller (New Berlin, Wis.) was right on her heels, placing 89th in 24:43, followed by Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn. / 91st, 24:45) and Daysha Schliep (Holyoke, Colo. / 96th, 24:58). Jenny Folgers (Johnsburg, Ill.) stopped the clock in 25:42 for 114th, with Natalie Cossetta (West St. Paul, Minn. / 115th, 25:44) and Emilee Conley (Fennimore, Wis. / 134th, 27:17) rounding out the Cardinals' top seven runners.

The men may have had to settle for 22nd place in the 23-team field, but it certainly wasn't for lack of effort. All seven SMU runners posted season-best times, led by B.J. Klenke (Jordan, Minn.), Keith Pieschek (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) and Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn.).

Klenke posted SMU's top time, completing the eight-kilometer course in 27:41 for 112th place, while Pieschek was 117th in 27:51 and Baertsch was 119th in 27:55. Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.) was the fourth Cardinal across the finish line, placing 130th in 28:25, followed by Karl Hatteberg (Blooming Prairie, Minn. / 134th, 28:40), Andy Marter (Winona, Minn. / 136th, 28:48) and Patrick Polasek (Glendale Heights, Ill. / 154th, 30:23).

"Our top six guys all turned in personal-best times," Skemp said. "It was great to see them running their best at the end of the season."