MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The field was huge — 28 NCAA Division III cross country teams from around the country.

Yet, the Saint Mary's University women's cross country team wasn't intimidated in the least.

Fueled by the efforts of Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) and Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.), the Cardinals put together a 10th-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday — and also put a smile on the face of head coach Ward Berndt.

"I'm very pleased with our performance," said Berndt, whose women not only beat out MIAC rivals Bethel and St. Catherine, but were also just 13 points behind Hamline and within striking distance of Concordia. "Heading in, I figured that if everything went perfectly, we had a chance to finish ninth, so to finish 10th just shows what an outstanding performance these ladies had."

Koranda was the first Cardinal across the finish line, posting a six-kilometer time of 24:27, while Bollig was right on her heels, crossing the tape in 24:50. Kate Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.), Sarah Zweber (Elko, Minn.) and Alicia Hartung (Menomonie, Wis.) all finished within 11 seconds of each other (25:30, 25:33, 25:41, respectively) to complete the Cardinals' top five.

"The great thing about a big race like this is that everyone has someone to run with," said Berndt. "Ellen and Tera did a nice job out front, and our 3-4-5 runners ran as a group and really put together some nice times."

Berndt was also pleased with the effort put forth by his men's squad, which settled for a 42nd-place effort in the 48-team field.

"Everyone dropped at least two seconds off their times at the Carleton Invitational (two weeks ago), and that was great to see," said Berndt, whose men's team was led by Andy Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.), who clocked an 8K time of 29:25. "A lot of these guys have only run one 8K race in their life, so it's still an adjustment period for them."

Aaron Raulin (Madison, Wis.), competing in his first race of the season, added a time of 30:51, while Andrew Rath (Hillsborough, N.J. / 31:18), Martin Howard (Chicago, Ill. / 31:38) and Gary Borash (Bowlus, Minn. / 32:20) rounded out SMU's top five.

"This was a good meet for us," said Berndt, whose teams are now off until Oct. 8, when they take part in the Don Huston Invitational in Waverly, Iowa. "Competing in such a big field was a good experience, and when you add to that the fact that everyone dropped time, that's really good to see at this stage in the season."