Beth Hauer led the Gusties in 13th place with a time of 23:17.
The Gustavus women’s cross country team placed fifth out of 16 teams at the St. Olaf Invitational on Saturday morning in Northfield, Minn. St. Olaf earned first place at its home meet with a collective time of 1:55:07. Carleton College took second at 1:55:54 and the University of Minnesota-Duluth finished third at 1:56:36.
Junior Beth Hauer maintained her position as the Gusties top runner, finishing the 6K race in 13th place out of 325 runners with a time of 23:17. Morgan Place of UMD won the event at 22:11, Carleton’s Simone Childs-Walker took second at 22:18 and the host Oles’ Emma Lee finished in third with a time of 22:25.
Including Hauer, Gustavus posted four runners in the top-30. Kate Eggers took 19th place at 23:32, Brooke Beskau finished 22nd at 23:37 and first-year Rebecca Hare placed 27th at 23:46.
The Gusties have next weekend off and will travel to Eau Claire, Wis. for the Blugold Invitational on Sept. 30. The women’s 6K race will begin at 4:00 p.m.