WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University cross country teams got a little bit of everything at the Pre-National Invitational last Friday evening — a little bit of wind, a little bit of rain, a little bit of cold.

Check that — how about, a lot of rain, a lot of wind and a lot of cold.

Yet, no matter what Mother Nature tried to throw at them, the Cardinals would not let the elements beat them as they turned in yet another solid performance.

"I was very pleased with our performances," said SMU coach John Skemp, whose men's team placed 21st in the 23-team field, while the women were 17th among 22 teams. "This was a super-competitive race, with some of the top teams from around the country competing.

"The weather conditions were tough — cold, rainy, windy —  and it was a difficult course, so I was very happy with the efforts."

Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) turned in the top time for the women, covering the six-kilometer course in 23:53 to place 42nd overall. Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) chipped in a time of 24:34, while Alicia Hartung (Menomonie, Wis. / 24:51), Ashley Davis (Hugo, Minn. / 25:33) and Keri Drake (Sturgeon Bay, Wis. / 26:04) rounded out the top five.

On the men's side, Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.) finished the 8K course in 28:39 to place 116th overall. Karl Hatteberg (Waltham, Minn.) added a time of 29:34, with Aaron Raulin (Madison, Wis.) close behind in 29:46. Pat Polasek (Glendale Heights, Ill. / 30:07) and Steve Adams (Roseville, Minn. / 30:38) completed SMU's top five runners.

"We had some great individual efforts — Alicia Hartung and Ashley Davis had breakout races on the women's side, and it was good to see Aaron Raulin and Steve Adams run well after being out with injuries," said Skemp. "Our times continue to drop, which is good to see.

"We've still got a lot of work to do before the MIAC and regionals, but we are definitely headed in the right direction."