WINONA, Minn. — The weather conditions may have been better suited for SMU cross country coach John Skemp's winter sport — nordic skiing — but that certainly didn't seem to bother the Cardinal runners Saturday afternoon at the Winona State University Invitational.

Let by Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn.), the SMU men cruised to a third-place finish in the four-team even, while Reneee Willkom (Cadott, Wis.) led the Cardinal women to a fourth-place showing in the five-team women's field.

"I was very pleased with the way everyone ran," said Skemp. "The course was very flat, but the footing wasn't the greatest and there was a good west wind blowing, which made it pretty tough to run.

Baertsch completed the eight-kilometer course in 28:08 to finish sixth overall, while Keith Pieschek (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) was 11th in 28:22 and B.J. Klenke (Jordan, Minn.) was 14th in 28:43. Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn. / 25th, 29:09) and Andy Marter (Winona, Minn. / 27th, 29:11) rounded out the Cardinals' top five.

"Baertsch had a solid run, and Pieschek turned in a big personal-best, so those two really ran well," praised Skemp. "B.J. 's times keep dropping from week-to-week, and both Andy Boisjolie and Andy Marter turned in strong runs."

Willkom cracked the Top 10 in leading the Cardinal women to their fourth-place finish, clocking a 5K time of 20:52 for ninth place. Theresa Miller (New Berlin, Wis.) placed 15th in 21:10, while Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) was 18th in 21:22. Daysha Schliep (Holyoke, Colo.), who hadn't competed in over a month due to a leg injury, was 24th (21:43) and Jenny Folgers (Johnsburg, Ill.) was close behind in 25th (21:49) to round out the top five.

"Renee ran a great race — it was nice to see her crack into that top 10," said Skemp. "Actually, I thought all the women ran well. The times are continuing to drop each week, and hopefully, with a good taper the next couple of weeks, we'll be at our best for the conference and regional meets."