COLFAX, Wis. – The No. 15-ranked St. Olaf College women's cross country team claimed the team title at the 25-team Blugold Invitational after placing four runners in the top 10 on Friday afternoon at Whitetail Golf Course.
Sophomore
Sofia Carlson, senior
Christine Albrecht, sophomore
Alison Bode, and first year
Lauren Walda all placed in the top 10 individually to help St. Olaf top the field with 40 points. The Oles finished 24 points ahead of No. 11-ranked Carleton – which had its number two runner disqualified – and 38 points ahead of No. 22-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
Carlson posted her second top-five finish in as many six-kilometer races this season, coming in third in 22:25.5, which was 40 seconds faster than her time at the St. Olaf Invitational two weeks ago. Albrecht was right behind Carlson, shattering her personal collegiate-best 6K time by 35 seconds in fourth place in 22:26.1
Bode also set a new collegiate-best 6K time by 35 seconds by placing seventh in 22:38.5, while Walda improved her time from two weeks ago by 37 seconds with a ninth-place finish in 22:46.6. Walda moved up eight spots in the field over the second half of the race after sitting 17th at the 3K mark.
Junior
Katie Gebert was St. Olaf's fifth and final scorer in 17th place with a time of 22:51.7, which was the best 6K time of her collegiate career by 30 seconds. Junior
Bella Call made it six Oles in the top 20 in 18th place in 22:52.1.
The Oles do not compete next weekend before splitting their squad for a pair of meets on Saturday, Oct. 15. St. Olaf will send its top contingent of runners to the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, Conn., while the rest of the team will run at the Tori Neubauer Invitational in West Salem, Wis.