MEN’S RESULTS | WOMEN’S RESULTS
ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. — The Gustavus men’s and women’s cross country teams both took first place at the Crown College Invitational on Saturday.
The men recorded 25 points with seven runners in the top ten. The women claimed the top two times and added five more in the top ten, recording 21 points leading them to victory.
“We just wanted to make sure we kept the undefeated streak going for Gustavus fall athletics so far,” said Coach Brenden Huber on his team’s finish. “We’ve been working hard these past few weeks, we knew we weren’t going to have our best times today, but we challenged our athletes to compete hard and they executed that very well.”
The men were led by Tucker Wallin (Sr., Red Wing) in fourth place with a time of 20:40.79. Not far behind him was Tyler Smith (So., Norwood Young America), who took fifth in 20:46.20. Jake Wielgos (Sr., Elburn, Ill.) took sixth in 20:47.67, Henry Hinchcliffe (Sr., Austin) placed seventh in 20:47.97, and Logan McCullough (Jr., Waverly, Iowa) crossed the line eighth in 21:04.40.
“We knew there would be a couple good guys from other teams who would get out hot, but we told our guys to run their race. It was really fun to see their pack strength all the way throughout the race and take control of what they could control.”
UW-Superior took second, totaling 52 points, followed by host Crown in third (84), Northwestern (Minn.) in fourth (98) and Northland in fifth (127).
Evelyn Villalobos (Jr., Crystal) and Molly Liston (Fy., Richfield) led the charge for the Gustie women, taking first and second respectively. Villalobos finished with a time of 20:03.42, while Liston posted a time of 20:49.95 in her first collegiate meet. Sydney Hagen (So., Starbuck) took fifth in 21:25.46, followed by Julia Severson (Sr., St. Cloud) in seventh at 21:42.06, and Abby Vizenor (So., Jordan) completed the team scoring in eighth with a time of 21:52.20.
“Evelyn and Molly basically ran away from everybody early. It was fun to see Molly get some good confidence knowing that she belongs up in the front. Our pack that was behind them had fantastic energy. They chased people down and worked hard.”
MIAC competitor St. Catherine took second with 66 points, North Central took third with 71, and UW-Superior rounded out the competition in fourth (86).
The Gusties return to action Sept. 9 at the Hamline Invitational.