WINONA, Minn. — The first time the Saint Mary's University cross country teams had an extra week of training without a competition this season, the Cardinals came out and turned in some of their best times of the year.

Last Saturday, the Cardinals were again coming off a two-week training session — and, for the second straight time, the extra week off paid huge dividends, as SMU's teams both posted second-place finishes at the Carthage Invitational.

"The times are continuing to come down, which is good to see at this time of year," said SMU coach John Skemp, whose team has one more regular-season meet — Saturday at Winona State — before they take part in the MIAC Championships on Nov. 1. "We had some very good efforts again today. People are starting to really get fit and we seem to be peaking at the right time."

Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) led the way for the SMU women, placing second overall with a six-kilometer time of 24:13. Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) was sixth in 24:59, followed by Renee Willkom (Cadott, Wis. / 8th, 25:07), Natalie Cossetta (West St. Paul, Minn. / 20th, 26:18) and Jenny Folgers (McHenry, Ill. / 22nd, 26:21).

On the men's side, Keith Pieschek (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) was the top finisher, placing eighth overall with an 8K time of 28:43. Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.) tallied a time of 29:00 for 13th, followed by Jim Baertsch (Winona, Minn. / 16th, 29:29), Karl Hatteberg (Waltham, Minn. / 18th, 29:59) and Mike Marek (Winona, Minn. / 32nd, 32:12).