The  No. 9 Minnesota women’s cross country team looked to carry over last weekend’s Griak Invitational success- in which they finished second- to this weekend in two days of competition. 

Sending a split squad to compete in two events, the Gophers sent their top 12 runners to the South Dakota State Classic, and the result was an easy victory.

Minnesota had six runners finish in the top-10, and with 24 points easily cruised to the title. Their next closest competitor, runner-up Kansas State, finishing a distant second with 50 points.

Griak Invitational individual title-holder and reigning Big Ten runner of the week Megan Duwell was the Gophers top finisher at the SDSU Classic, finishing second in the five-kilometer race with a time of 17:27.9.

Senior Elizabeth Yetzer finished fourth for the Gophers, starting a streak of five consecutive Minnesota runners to place. Following Yetzer were fellow Gophers Amy Laskowske in fifth place, Kayla Wagner in sixth, Nikki Swenson in seventh and Heather Dorniden in eighth. 

Kansas State’s Beverly Ramos won the individual title finishing with a time of 17:11.5, but Minnesota’s consistency, with 11 runners finishing in the top-20, earned its overall team victory.

The rest of the split-squad competed at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational. Led by a seventh place finish from Jamie Dittmar, the Gophers tallied 125 points; good for fourth place.

Minnesota next competes Oct. 17, when they again will send a split squad to compete in both the Pre-NCAA Meet as well as the Tori Neubauer Invitational.