The St. Catherine University cross country team raced to its best team finish since 1998 at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Cross Country Championships Saturday, coming in at the ninth-place position and just five points out of eighth place. The Wildcats stellar performance at the team's biggest meet of the year was thanks in large part to rookie Ailee Larson (Lutsen, Minn.) who was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line, earning her Wildcat Athlete of the Week honors.
Larson turned in her personal-best 6k time of 23:31.0 at the meet, which earned her a 25th-place finish and All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors in her first season as a Wildcat. The sophomore runner was the first Wildcat to earn MIAC honors at the meet since Greta Sieve raced to a fourth-place finish in 2009. Larson dropped 12 seconds from her previous best time to take over the No. 3 spot on the St. Catherine Cross Country Top-25 times list for 6k races.
The Wildcats and Larson will have one last chance to race this fall and qualify for the national meet at the NCAA Division III Central Region Meet, Saturday, Nov. 10, in Northfield, Minn.
