WINONA, Minn. (Blugolds.com) - Dominating is the best way to describe the UW-Eau Claire women's cross country team's performance Friday at the Saint Mary's (Minn.) No Limit Invitational, hosted by Saint Mary's University.
The Blugolds swept the top three spots in the race and took seven of the first 12 spots in the race to cruise to 22 team points and the team title. Eau Claire was 35 points ahead of second-place UW-La Crosse in the five team race.
Melody Becker (Fr.-Osseo, Wis.) crossed the line in first place with a time of 24:44.2 over the duration of 6,000 meters.
Monica Emerson (Jr.-Somerset, Wis.) finished right behind her in a time of 24:48.7 to claim second, and Sydney Pretasky (Fr.-La Crosse, Wis./Central) came in next with a time of 24:55.1.
After a few runners prevented the Blugolds from completely sweeping the meet, Gretchen Berg (Fr.-Nashotah, Wis./Arrowhead) came in seventh place with a time of 25:11.9 and Steph Dunlavy (Jr.-Colby, Wis.) came in ninth place in 25:15.5.
The rest of the Blugolds will try to build off the Saint Mary's success tomorrow morning at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The race gets underway at 9:00 a.m.
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