The Gustavus men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to travel to West Salem, Wis., to compete in the Jim Drews Invitational (men) and Tori Neubauer Invitational (women) on Saturday morning at Maple Grove Country Club. The men’s race will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the women to follow at 11:30 a.m.
Men
The Jim Drews Invitational is a race held annually in honor of former UW-La Crosse All-American and national champion Jim Drews. The Gusties will look to improve on a 17th place finish in a field of 25 teams last season. They were led by Mark Bartley `12, who finished 38th in the race.
The Gusties will also look to build on a third place finish two weeks ago at the Gale Woods Invitational. Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) led the way for the Black and Gold. He finished in 27:33.05 to place seventh. Leighton Becher (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.) was the only other Gustie to register a time inside the top 15. The sophomore ran to a 12th place finish in a time of 27:58.13.
Women
The Tori Neubauer Invitational, much like the Jim Drews Invitational, is an annual race held in honor of former UW-La Crosse All-American and national champion Tori Neubauer. Last season, the Gustie women finished seventh in a field of 23 teams, led by Brooke Beskau `12.
After running away with victory in near-perfect fashion two weeks ago at the Gale Woods Invitational, the Gusties, who are now ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA regional polls, will look to duplicate that performance on Saturday. The Gustavus women took four of the top five spots on their way to a team score of 17, two points from a perfect score of 15. Caitlin Fermoyle (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.) led the way with her second first place finish of the season in a time of 23:05.62. Kate Eggers (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.), Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.), and Beth Hauer (Sr., Little Falls, Minn.) rounded out the Gusties in the top five finishing second, third, and fourth, respectively.