The Blugold Invitational this past Saturday, in Colflax, Wisc. displayed the talent of the Warriors Women’s Cross Country team.

With an overall third place team showing, six of the Warriors had times that placed them in the Winona State women’s cross country team all-time-top-50.

Jessica Young’s time was second best in school history, while Kayla Gudmundson’s time was right behind that, good for third best in Winona State history.

The women’s team is the “fastest in history,” says senior runner, Gudmundson. “We came into this season as the fastest, and expect to end the season the same way.”

She also hopes that they have a good enough season to qualify them to nationals as a team—something that the women’s team at Winona State has never done.

Along with the hopes of running as a team at nationals, Gudmundson also would like to place in the top three teams at conference.

After running a 6K, which is almost four miles, Young was the first Warrior finisher, who placed 8th overall in 22:05.

Gundmundson crossed the line next, and also finished in the top ten, with a time of 22:10. She received 9th place overall.

Jordan Skelly was 14th with 22:31.

The fourth runner in for the team was Chelsea Schrubbe, who finished in 18th with 22:50.

Megan Snyder was fifth for Winona with 23:07, good for 30th overall.

As a team, the Warriors finished third with a combined team score of 79 points.

UW-Eau Claire was second with 62 points.

The winner of the invitational was the University of Minnesota with 34 points.

The individual winner of the meet was Ashlyn Mauer, of UW-Eau Claire, with 21:42.

Kate Bucknam and Cassy Opitz, both from the University of Minnesota, were second and third with times of 21:47.46 and 21:47.92.

Young, Winona’s top runner from this meet is “hoping to improve at each and every meet. I want to run with more strength and heart during this season.”

The Warrior men’s cross country team also ran at this invitational, with Billy Eifert finishing in the top team spot.

Compared to their last meet, which was run at St. Mary’s, Eifert “hoped to have the pack run stronger,” saying “we have to motivate each other throughout the race in order to

preform better as a team.” With over 300 runners, the Warriors were able to cross the line in the top 80. Eifert, again, was the top finisher of the almost five mile race.

He placed 13th overall with a time of 25:53. This personal record for the sophomore was also the 32nd fastest time in Winona State University history.
David Lund was second for the Warriors with 26:37 and 45th overall. Alex Buss was the next finisher, in 61st place with 26:54.

In 69th place, was Clay Scott, with a time of 27:09.

The fifth and final runner to cross the line for the Warrior lineup was Shane Carloson, with 27:13, good for 72nd place.

Winona State finished 9th overall, with a combined team score of 260 points.

The winner of the invitational was UW-Eau Claire with 28 points.

Lakeland University was second with 114 points, and Luther finished third with 120 points.

The top individual finisher of the meet was Jeremy Kieser, of UW-Eau Claire with 24:55.

Dylan Brown was second with a time of 25:18, from Lakeland University.

Jared Brendenburg, running as an individual, was third with 25:25.

The Warriors cross country teams will be back in action Friday the 28th at the SMU No Limit Invitational in Winona and Saturday the 29th at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Contact Kylie at KBridenhagen11@winona. edu.