NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Both Gustavus cross country teams traveled to Northfield on Saturday for the Running of the Cows. The women finished 12th and the men finished 10th in their respective divisions.

Today's meet was deemed the Pre-Nationals meet at the Bill Huyck Championship Cross Country Course, due to the fact that Carleton will host the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on November 21st. This meant that the field at the Running of the Cows this year was a bit deeper, with teams traveling to Northfield from Maine to California. 

The women's team raced first and finished 12th in the Maize division 6,000-meter race. Yet again, the team was led by their sophomore class, with the top five finishers and all scorers being in the Gustavus class of 2029. Addison Enfield (Northfield, Minn.) finished 14th individually and crossed in 23:14.3 to pace the Gusties. Both Anna Forbord (Northfield, Minn.) and Anna Gould (Amery, Wis.) used season bests to finish in the top group for the Gusties in 52nd (23:58.9) and 77th (24:23.0), respectively. The final two scores were Siiri Anderson (Duluth, Minn.), finishing in 24:25.8, and Francesca Geffre (Roseville, Minn.), crossing the finish line in 24:54.0. 

The time was a season-best for Geffre and four more Gustavus runners ran personal bests on Saturday, first-years Sara Palmer (Menomonie, Wis.), Jaci Jordan (Lake Crystal, Minn.), and Madeline Lacerte (Brainerd, Minn.), along with sophomore Vivian Hatlevig (Rochester, Minn.). 

Senior Nick Brauer (Mankato, Minn.) was picked to compete individually for the Gusties in the Men's Navy Championship 8,000-meter, separate from the full men's team who was selected for the Maize 8,000-meter. Brauer finished 181st out of 328, running a 26:17.3, just 1.3 seconds behind his season-best. In the Maize Division, sophomore Caden Riga (Belle Plaine, Minn.) was the leader for the Gusties, running a 26:57.2 and was closely followed by senior Evan Pouliot (Circle Pines, Minn.), crossing in 27:02.4 seconds. Junior Matthew Berge (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Matthew Trzynka (Maple Grove, Minn.) were also grouped just four spots away in 56th and 62nd place with times of 27:17.1 and 27:20.6, respectively. The final scorer for Gustavus was Joey Gustafson (Virginia, Minn.), who ended the race in 27:36.5. The top four finishers all had personal bests and were joined by Matthew Jenneke (Plymouth, Minn.), Colin Talle (Mankato, Minn.), and Avery Nielson (Apple Valley, Minn.), who also ran personal bests. 

The Gusties are back on the course next weekend at the Coach Finanger Invitational hosted by Luther in Decorah, Iowa.