ST. PAUL, MINN. – Traditionally, a soggy wet course and rain are not the best conditions for a cross country meet. The St. Catherine University cross country team didn't let that deter them, though, from having one of the best days in program history. The Wildcats finished ninth at the Roy Griak Invitational, the best finish in program history, thanks to strong performances from top runners.
The top finisher for St. Kate's was none other than standout runner
Courtney Kirkeide (Greenbush, Minn. / Greenbush-Middle River). The senior recorded her second top-20 finish of the season at Griak with an 18
th place finish in a race that featured 210 collegiate runners. Kirkeide's time of 25:12.4 just missed St. Kate's all-time performance list but was the top finish by a Wildcat at the meet.
Leighlin Ahlmstrom (White Bear Lake, Minn. / White Bear Lake) and
Allison Monahan (Missoula, Mont. / Hellgate) continued to impress in the second meet of their collegiate careers. The first years were the St. Kate's second and third finishers at Griak, as Ahlmstrom's time of 25:42.9 helped her finish in 30
th placed. Monahan was not far behind, as her time of 26:08.2 put her in 37
th.
Shannon Strickland's (Rochester, Minn. / Lourdes) was the fourth best finisher for St. Kate's. Her final sprint into the finish gave her a time of 27:11.1, two seconds faster than teammate
Jackie Brine-Doyle (Merrifield, Minn. / Pequot Lakes). While Strickland finished in 59
th, Brine-Doyle was one place behind her in 60
th with a final time of 27:13.2.
Teagan Tretter (Kronenwetter, Wis. / DC Everest) and
Bryana Waage (Valencia, Calif. / Hart) were the sixth and seventh finishers for St. Kate's respectively. Tretter finished in 65
th place with a time of 27:43.0 while Waage came in in 72
nd with a time of 28:22.9.
With 204 points, the Wildcats finished three points shy of Concordia-Wisconsin's eighth place finish. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh was the top team at the meet, as they won with a combined team score of 69 points. St. Olaf College was the top team from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), as they finished with a team score of 75.
With Griak behind it, St. Kate's will enjoy two weeks off before hosting the St. Kate's Invite in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 8. The meet will take place on St. Kate's campus and will begin at 11:30 a.m.
