St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustauvs men’s and women’s cross country teams will be back on the course this weekend when they travel to Colfax, Wis. to participate in the 2013 UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite on Friday, Oct. 4. The women’s 6k race will begin at 4:00 p.m. with the men’s 8k race taking place after at 5:00 p.m. The Blugold Invite will be held at the Whitetail Golf Course.
Both the men’s and women’s races will feature a field made up of 26 different teams spanning NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, along with two club teams. Participating collegiate institutions include Carleton College, Central College, Lakehead University, Luther College, Macalester College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, University of Northwestern, Saint John’s University, Saint Mary’s University, College of Saint Benedict, St. Catherine University, St. Olaf College, College of St. Scholastica, University of St. Thomas, University of Minnesota, UM-Morris, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout, UW-Superior, UW-Whitewater, Viterbo University, and Winona State University.
On the men’s side, six of the top ten teams ranked in the Central Region will be participating on Friday. Those men’s teams include 1.) St. Olaf, 2.) Carleton, 4.) Central, 5.) St. Thomas, 8.) Luther, and 9.) Saint John’s.
The women’s race will feature seven of the top 10 squads in the region including 2.) Carleton, 3.) St. Olaf, 4.) St. Scholastica, 5.) Luther, 6.) Saint Ben’s, 7.) Gustavus, and 9.) Macalester.
To view the complete U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional rankings released on Tuesday, Oct. 1, please follow the link below.
http://www.ustfccca.org/2013/10/featured/a-trio-of-new-top-teams-in-division-iii-regional-rankings
The Gusties were last on the course Saturday, Sept. 21 when they competed in the St. Olaf Invitational held in Northfield. The women’s team finished sixth out of 15 teams, while the men’s team placed ninth out of 16 teams.
Leading the Gustie women in a field of 251 participants were juniors Rebecca Hare (Albany, Minn.) and Caitlin Fermoyle (Mendota Heights, Minn.). Both cracked the top 15 as Hare came in 11th with a season-best time of 23:05.1, and Fermoyle finished 14th with a time of 23:19.5.
The men were paced by Joe Renier (Cambridge, Minn.) who also posted a top 15 finish. Renier crossed the finish line in a season-low 25:57.3 to take 14th out of 272 runners.
The Gustavus cross country teams return to the Blugold Invitational for the first time in two seasons on Friday. Back on Sept. 29, 2011, the Gustie women placed ninth out of 19 teams with 220 points, and the men came in 11th out of 22 teams with 279 points.
Gusties currently on the team who competed in that race include Rebecca Hare, Caitlin Fermoyle, Eric Jorgenson (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.), and Leighton Becher (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.). Hare (24:30) and Fermoyle (24:35) completed the race in 36th and 71st , respectively, while Jorgenson (27:14) and Becher (27:22) placed 79th and 84th, respectively.
The Whitetail Golf Course is comprised of gradual rolling hills and good footing on grass throughout. The course will be single lined, flagged with each K and 1600 marked (1K, 2K, 3K, 4K, etc. & 1600, 3200, 4800, etc.). For directions to the course and for course maps, please follow the links below.
Results will be posted on the tent near the finish line at the conclusion of each race and will be available online at: http://blugolds.com/landing/index and http://www.pttiming.com/