COLFAX, Wis. – Led by a third-place finish from senior Lauren Walda, the No. 23-ranked St. Olaf College women's cross country team took sixth at the Blugold Invitational on Friday morning at Whitetail Golf Couse.

Walda made it three top-five finishes out of as many races this season by placing third in the field of 100 runners in 21:59.5 to pace St. Olaf, which was sixth out of 36 teams with 187 points in the race held at the site of this year's NCAA Division III North Region Championships. The field included four nationally-ranked teams and saw 70 points separate the top six teams, led by No. 16-ranked UW-La Crosse.

The race was moved up from an evening start time to a rare morning start due to the forecast for temperatures in the mid-80s at the original starting time.

Sophomore Louisa Lamarre was St. Olaf's No. 2 finisher on the day, placing 33rd in 23:25.0, a time which was two seconds shy of her personal-best 6K time. Senior Molly Kate McCloskey was also in the top 50 in 44th (25:35.2), while first years Anna Peikert (52nd, 23:43.3) and Anna-Britta Helmer (55th, 23:44.9) rounded out the Oles' five scorers with times that were both over 10-second improvements from the St. Olaf Invitational two weeks ago.

After two weeks free of competition, St. Olaf will split its team for races on Saturday, Oct. 18. The Oles will send their top contingent of runners to the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, Conn. while the rest of the team will run at home at the Haunted Hustle on the Hill.