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St. Olaf Invitational Saturday, Sept. 16 |
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Week layoff doesn't slow down Cardinal runners at St. Olaf Invite
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — It had been two weeks since the Saint Mary's University cross country teams had competed, yet the layoff certainly did not have any ill effects on the Cardinals.
In fact, the SMU women barely missed a beat Saturday, as the Cardinals — led by Katie Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.) and Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) — placed ninth out of 19 teams at the St. Olaf Invitational. The SMU men, once again led by a pair of freshmen, finished 20th in the 23-team men's field.
"I'm pretty happy with the performances," said SMU coach Ward Berndt. "Everyone is still a little tired — we've been training very hard and I thought everyone battled through the fatigue pretty well."
Boisjolie led the way for the Cardinal women, placing 21st overall with a six-kilometer time of 24:27, while Bollig was close behind, clocking a time of 24:47. Sarah Zweber (Elko, Minn.) was the third SMU woman across the line, stopping the clock in 25:59, while Anne Shutte (Columbia Heights, Minn. / 26:00) and Kim Koecheler (St. Paul, Minn. / 26:15) rounded out the Cardinals' top five.
John Vallez (Eagan, Minn.) and Andy Accola (DeForest, Wis.) once again led the SMU men's charge, posting eight-kilometer times of 28:31 and 29:44, respectively. Jon Sopcak (Steamwood, Ill.) added a 31:19 effort, followed by Martin Howard (Chicago, Ill. / 31:26) and Mike Marek (Winona, Minn. / 32:40).
"I thought our women turned in a very solid performance — the times were down, which was good to see," said Berndt. "On the guys side, we got solid showings from John and Andy, but we've got to close the gap between our No. 2 and Nos. 3-4-5 runners.
"This was a good meet for us, because there were a lot of conference teams competing, and it gave us a good look at what the rest of the MIAC competition is like," Berndt added. "It's nice to get back into a competitive mode, and, hopefully, we can keep making positive strides in the weeks to come."