It’s tough for an NCAA Division III school to go into a meet that includes a top-ranked Division I university and come out pleased with the results. But both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams did just that on Saturday.

In the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Jim Drews Invitational and the Tori Neubauer Invitational, both of Mac’s teams competed with Div. I and Div. II teams and finished in the middle of the field. Both teams also fared well against their Div. III MIAC competition.

On the men’s side, the top-ranked Div. I University of Wisconsin-Madison team led the 21-team field with 30 points and a 1.6-second spread between its top five runners. St. Olaf was the top MIAC team, finishing in ninth place. Macalester took tenth, finishing 80 points behind St. Olaf but ahead of the five other MIAC teams in the race.

Bo Rydze ’05 led the team again, taking 48th place in the eight-kilometer race with a time of in 26:08. Dylan Keith ’07, who came in 53rd, was 12 seconds behind Rydze. Eric Olson ’05 and Roscoe Sopiwnik ’06 were the third and fourth runners, respectively. Nate Crider ’08 grabbed the last scoring spot for the Mac Pack.

The women’s team, which is ranked 22nd nationally among Div. III teams, was sixth out of 13 teams and the first of four MIAC squads. Luther College eked out a narrow victory over University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse for the win.

Koby Hagen ’06 and Francie Streich ’06 were back in action after missing last week’s meet. Hagen covered the six-kilometer course in 23:01 for 11th place to lead the Macalester women, and Streich took 24th in 23:22. Anna Gordon ’06, Emily Stafford ’06, and Anna Shamey ’07 rounded out the top five.

“My hope was to see the Mac women pack it up and race with the intensity they had at St. Olaf and Eau Claire [on Oct. 1] and they did that,” women’s coach Jordan Cushing said. “The team has been tired and stressed out the past couple of weeks. It was important to get out and race hard and race through that.”

Stafford said the cold weather, challenging course, and strong competition was good for the team. “The competition was tough, but seeing those teams in front of me made me work harder to pass them,” she said. “Our team raced very well, packed up, and showed our depth once again as our order in front constantly changes.”

Saturday’s meet was the last race before the MIAC meet on Oct. 30th. Both Macalester teams are among the top contenders for the championship, but each team has weaknesses to address.

Finding the elusive fifth runner is one of those weaknesses, especially for the men’s team. “We need to move the number-five man up to within 25 seconds of the number-four man,” men’s coach Matt Haugen said. “This is crucial if we are to challenge for the team title.”

Rydze also emphasized the fifth runner. “[The fifth runner from] St. Olaf finished nine runners in front of our fifth, so we are looking for someone to step it up in order to have five guys running under 27 [minutes], which we need if we’re going to be a serious contender,” he said.

Cushing said she used Saturday’s meet to evaluate the team’s progress so far. “[Last week’s meet] was a good opportunity to see what we need to work on before conference—and that means getting rest, packing up even more and finding our gears,” she said.

The conference meet will be the women’s team’s first look this season at Carleton, the only other nationally ranked team in the MIAC. Cushing predicted a battle between St. Olaf, Macalester, and Carleton, which is currently ranked 18th.

For both teams, the conference meet will culminate months of intense training. During the next two weeks, the runners will sharpen themselves through easier mileage, short speed workouts, and most importantly, mental preparation.

“We remain on the very edge of having either ‘another’ season or an incredible one,” Keith said.