WAVERLY, Iowa — Saint Mary's University cross country coach Ward Berndt was very pleased with his teams' performances at the Dan Huston Invitational Saturday afternoon — all things considered.

Due to a mix-up in communication, the Cardinal women thought the start of their race was actually 20 minutes later than it actually was, meaning SMU wasn't able to get in a complete warm-up, prior to toeing the line for the start of the race.

But the Cardinals handled it in stride.

Led by Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.), the SMU women placed sixth in the eight-team race, while the Cardinal men settled for a 10th-place finish among the 11 teams competing.

"It was kind of a crazy start to the day," said SMU coach Ward Berndt. "We had a mix-up in regards to the start of the race, and so we didn't get in a complete warm-up, but I thought, all things considered, they ran a pretty good race."

Pretty good?

Koranda just missed a top 15 performance, stopping the clock in 24:13 to finish 16th overall. Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) placed 31st in 24:36, while Sam Oreskovich (Prior Lake Minn. / 36th, 24:48), Sarah Zweber (Elko, Minn. / 39th, 25:15) and Kate Boisjolie (Austin, Minn. / 44th, 25:39) rounded out the Cardinals' top five.

"I think, considering the circumstances, we did about as well as we could," said Berndt, noting that the top four teams in the six-team women's field were ranked in the top 25. "Ellen ran a very good race, and everyone's times continue to drop, so that's good to see."

Speaking of dropping times, the SMU men also saw chunks of time fall from their season-best performances.

Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, placing 54th in 28:35. Aaron Raulin (Madison, Wis.) added a time of 29:36 for 63rd, with Andrew Rath (Hillsborough, N.J. / 68th, 30:38), Martin Howard (Chicago, Ill. / 70th, 31:08) and Gary Borash (Bowlus, Minn. / 73rd, 31:43) completed SMU's top five.

"Like the women, the guys all turned in either season or career bests, and we're very happy about that," said Berndt. "I like the progress both teams continues to show. Hopefully that will continue as we get closer to the conference and regional meets."