This weekend might have been an off weekend for most of the men’s and women’s varisty cross country teams, but the remainder of the athletes on both teams competed in the “City Wells” Invitational.

The top 12 women and top 11 men all rested this week in preparation for the WIAC conference meet next weekend, hosted by UW-La Crosse. This meet gave the JV runners a chance to prepare for the upcoming Luther College JV Cup meet in a few weeks. It also gave head coach Dan Schwamberger a chance to fill the 12th spot on the men’s team for conference next weekend, he said.

The meet on Friday was a 5K for both the women and men. On the women’s side, the top three Blugold athletes crossed the finish line under 20 minutes and within 16 seconds of each other. Leading the group was freshman Callie Fischer with a time of 19:41. Freshman Lian Arzbecker just three seconds behind her and freshman Brianna Nelson rounded out the trio with a time of 19:57.

On the men’s side, the top six place finishers all went to the Blugolds. Sophomore Brendon Paucek led the way during the meet with a winning time of 15:53. Within 38 seconds of Paucek, the remaining five Blugolds followed suit, all finishing under 17 minutes.

The next item on the Blugolds’ agenda is to start preparing for the conference meet next week.