St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s cross country teams are ready for a return to the course this weekend when they travel to West Salem, Wis. on Saturday, Oct. 19. The Gustie men will compete in the Jim Drews Invitational beginning at 10:30 a.m., while the Gustie women will take part in the Tori Neubauer Invitational set to start after at 11:30 a.m. The race will be held at the Maple Grove Country Club located nine miles northeast of the UW-La Crosse campus.
Both Gustavus squads were in action two weekends ago at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational held Friday, Oct. 4 in Colfax, Wis. The women posted a 10th place finish with a score of 268, while the men came in 12th with a score of 376.
Against a 424 participant field – the Gusties’ toughest competition of the season – Caitlin Fermoyle (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) led the women’s team in 24th with a season-best time of 23:07.63. Joe Renier (Sr., Cambride, Minn.) led led the way on the men’s side with a personal-best performance by placing 33rd out of 453 runners in 25:50.77.
Head Coach Dale Bahr’s women’s squad will look for a return to the top ten after taking ninth with a score of 232 at last season’s Tori Neubauer Invite. Top returners on the team from last year’s meet include Caitlin Fermoyle and Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.). Fermoyle led the team in 14th with a time of 22:39.0, and Hare finished 48th with a time of 23:29.5.
The Gustavus men will seek improvement at this year’s Jim Drews Invite following an 18th place finish with a score of 515 last season. Leighton Becher (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) is the top returning men’s runner from the 2012 meet, posting a 78th place finish in 26:46.4. Renier was behind him in 93rd with a time of 26:59.4.
Much like he saw in their performances at the Blugold Invitational to kick off October, coach Bahr is hoping to see across the board improvement this weekend in West Salem. Saturday’s events have the added importance of being each team’s final outing before taking part in the 2013 MIAC Championships set to take place on Saturday, Nov. 2 in St. Paul.
For more information on this weekend’s races including course maps, directions, parking information, and lodging options, please follow the link below.