The 2019 cross country season has begun, where the Blugolds traveled to St. Olaf to compete in the St. Olaf Invitational.

While the season officially started on Sept. 7 with the alumni open, this is the first meet where the men’s team ran a full 8k and the women’s team ran a full 6k against other universities. 

The no. 11 ranked Blugolds won the women’s race with a total score of 29 points. St. Olaf scored 41 and St. Cloud State rounded out the top three with a score of 92 points.

 Lexi Tremble, a fifth-year student,  was the top Blugold, placing second with a time of 22:59.8. The next Blugold finisher was Emma Drangstveit, a third-year runner, in fourth place. Third-year Hannah Lamack, third-year Lizzy Cisewski and third-year Liz Galloway rounded out the top five runners for the Blugolds, all placing within the top ten.

Tremble is the captain of the women’s team as well as their top returning runner from last year.

“It was the first real race of the season, so I was just excited to get out there and compete,” Tremble said. “I didn’t have any specific goals, I just wanted to get back comfortable being in a competitive mindset.”

Tremble will graduate this December with a degree in nursing. She is back for her fifth year after she said she had to redshirt her junior cross-country season due to mono. 

“We did such a good job with pack running, which is where we are the strongest,” Tremble said. “Everyone dealt with the humidity so well and the freshman were so positive about their first 6k race. We had seven of our girls in the top 15, which is amazing. I am so excited to see what the team can do this season.”

The no. 33 ranked men’s team placed second overall behind the no. 31 ranked St. Olaf Lions with a score of 44 and 25 points respectively.

Blugold Connor Dolan, a third-year student,  won the 8k in 26:24.8. Third-year student athlete Jacob Petri placed ninth, fourth-year Bailey Wilson finished right behind Petri, and second-year runner Sid Gross trailed Wilson. 

Dolan talked about his race in high praise.

“I would say that my performance went very well,” Dolan said. “I did what I wanted to and gained some valuable experience. The team I think also did well for the first 8k of the season. I believe there is a lot of room to grow, which is exciting for the rest of the season.”

Dolan said he is looking to build off the positive start he and the team had this past weekend.

“My expectations for myself (are) that I keep progressing and helping my team as much as possible,” Dolan said. “My expectations for the team are very similar. I hope that we continue to progress and see improvements whether that be on the cross-country course or just in every day-to-day practice.”

The Blugolds’ next race is on Friday, Oct. 4 at Whitetail Golf Course for the Blugold Invite. The men’s team will race at 4:15 p.m., followed by the women’s race at 5:15 p.m.

Schwoerer can be reached at [email protected]