NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The UW-Stevens Point men's cross country team placed 11th and the women's team was 18th at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational on Friday afternoon at Burke Golf Course.
 
THE BASICS
Location: Burke Golf Course – Notre Dame, Ind.
UWSP Men: 11th of 18 teams in Men's Gold 5 mile
UWSP Women: 18th of 19 teams in Women's Gold 5K
 
POINTERS' TOP FIVE PERFORMERS
 
MEN | RESULTS
 
Neil Pedersen (Clarndon Hills, IL/Hinsdale Central) paced UW-Stevens Point with a 14th-place finish in 25:11.8.
 
Dane Tyler (Janesville, WI/Parker) placed 36th by finishing in 25:28.8.
 
Luke Johnston (Mokena, IL/Lincoln-Way East) was the third finisher for the Pointers, coming in 56th in 25:47.2.
 
Alex Gonzales (West Allis, WI/West Allis) finished 84th with a time of 26:13.1.
 
Stephen Nelson (Waukegon, IL/Waukegon) was close behind Gonzales in 88th in 26:17.7.
 
WOMEN | RESULTS
 
Holly Winberg (Forest Lake, MN/Forest Lake) was the lone UW-Stevens Point runner to finish in the top 100 on the women's side, coming in 69th in 18:47.4.
 
The final four scorers for the Pointers all finished between 118th and 132nd, led by Kathy Derks (Greenville, WI/Hortonville), who finished 118th with a time of 19:42.3.
 
Emily Schlebecker (Mundelein, IL/Mendelein) was two spots behind Derks in 120th in 19:48.6.
 
Amelia Fass (Madison, WI/James Madison) placed 125th in 19:57.7.
 
Kari Beckman (Vesper, WI/Pittsville) rounded out the top five by finishing 132nd in 20:16.7.
 
NOTABLES
 
Both the Men's Gold 5 mile and Women's Gold 5K featured teams from Division I, II and III.
 
On the men's side, Pedersen was the fourth-highest finisher among Division-III runners and the Pointers finished ahead of seven Division-I programs.
 
The men are ranked ninth in this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Regional rankings. The three Division-III teams to finish ahead of UW-Stevens Point are all ranked in the top-16 nationally.
 
The women's team finished ahead of Valparaiso, a Division-I team.
 
Winberg shaved over 20 seconds off her time from last year's Notre Dame Invitational, as she finished 166th (19:08.6) last season.
 
COACH'S TAKE
 
"I thought our ladies ran really well today," said head coach Brett Witt. "As one of only four Division-III schools in the field, we knew it would be tough to place well as a team, but we did some really nice things, like shortening the time gap between our top five runners, which will make us a better team later in the season. Kathy had a huge breakthrough race finishing as our number two and Kari just keeps getting better every meet and is just scratching the surface of what she can do."
 
"On the men's side our top three guys, Neil, Dane and Luke put us in a good position, but we just didn't have the four and five runners we needed today," Witt said. "Having said that, we only finished four points behind the No. 16-ranked team in the country (Calvin), so we know when we have five guys put it all together on the same day we have a chance to be a really good team."
 
UP NEXT
 
UW-Stevens Point will compete at the UW-Oshkosh AAE Invitational at Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wis. on Saturday, Oct. 17.