Photos courtesy of Soren Sackreiter
WOMEN’S RESULTS | MEN’S RESULTS
WEST SALEM, Wis. — The Gustavus men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to West Salem, Wis. for the UW-La Crosse Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday. The Gustie women finished eighth of 30 in the 6k while the men finished 14th of 28 in the 8k. Host UW-La Crosse won both the men’s and women’s race.
Evelyn Villalobos (Jr., Crystal) led the Gustie women once more, posting a team-best top-ten finish at number nine, crossing the line in 22:27.27. The next Gustie finisher was Sydney Hagen (So., Starbuck) at 50th, with a time of 23:56.33. Molly Liston (Fy., Richfield) would be next to cross the line, finishing in 24:02.76 for 60th. It would be Taina Koivisto (Sr., Babbitt) finishing next for the Gusties in 83rd (24:24.95), while Abby Vizenor (So., Jordan) would round out the Gustie women top-five, placing 125th in 25:02.71.
“We’re very happy with the women’s side. We challenged our women to compete today and they left everything out there,” said Head Coach Brenden Huber. “Evelyn had another great day, running and competing with national-caliber athletes. Sydney Hagen had a huge race, as well, and made a big step up. All around, the women gave a championship-level effort today.”
Jake Wielgos (Sr., Elburn, Ill.) led the men to their 14th place finish, crossing the line 68th (26:23.63). Tyler Smith (So., Norwood Young America) and Logan McCullough (Jr., Waverly, Iowa) would finish next in 95th (26:41.45) and 99th (26:42.43), respectively. Henry Hinchcliffe (Sr., Austin) would finish fourth for the Gusties in 108th (26:50.91), and Trevor LaVigne (Sr., Farmington) rounded out the top-five in 153rd (27:18.72).
“It was a rougher day for our guys today. We took our shot, it just didn’t go as well. Jake really stepped up for us today and having Tyler back was great. We saw some good stuff from pockets of guys, but we just need to focus on finding our full team effort.”
Both cross country teams are off until Oct. 29 when they head to St. Paul to compete in the MIAC Championships.