The Gophers men’s cross country team has high hopes to rank in nationals after their strong performance at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. The women’s cross country team finished eighth overall as a team at the Invitational.
The Invitational hosted its most difficult competitors to date. The men’s team now sits in sixth place in the Midwest region, and the women’s team in fifth.
Redshirt sophomore Aidan Jones was Minnesota’s top men’s runner, finishing 14th overall.
Jones said the men’s team has higher aspirations compared to last year, and hopes are high to rank nationally at their upcoming pre-NCAAs meeting in Columbia, Missouri.
“We are really hoping to keep the momentum rolling, and after this week, we hope to be ranked in nationals,” Jones said. “The course we are running is where the national meet is this year and if we do make nationals, it will be a good preview to see what that will be like for us.”
Jones finished the race 25 seconds faster than last year. It is the second time Jones has finished first for the Gophers in his career.
Senior Emmet Anderson was second from the Gophers to finish. He improved his time by more than 20 seconds from the same event in 2024.
Anderson said he is happy where the team is at and tries to think meet by meet.
“I think this year we are a little better than last year, and this comes down a lot to the depth of the team,” Anderson said. “Last year we had a solid group, but if someone had a bad day, it would really hurt the team, but this year we have enough guys to fill that gap.”
Minnesota women did not have a podium finish but finished eighth overall, ahead of challenging opponents such as No. 18 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, No. 7 University of Providence and No. 21 University of Wisconsin.
For the first time in her career, junior Nadia Phillips led Minnesota’s lineup at a cross country meet. Phillips finished 29th overall.
Phillips said she was happy about the depth the women’s team has and believes they are ready to compete.
“Going into the Madison race and post-season competition, I feel we are a pretty good team, and I felt really good about this race,” Phillips said. “Going into Madison, I feel great. We have a good chance of competing and getting some more points to make it into nationals.”
The men’s and women’s cross country teams have four more meets before nationals.
The men’s next Pre-NCAAs meet is set to be held in Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 18, and the women’s Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 17.
