Three of five Bruin women running Saturday's Mount Marty Cross Country Invite turned in season-best times while two others were just seconds from their own season records. As a team, the Bruins also posted a season-best team time, averaging 21:05 for the five-kilometer distance.

Brisk fall-like temperatures and sunny skies greeted the fifteen teams at the Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, South Dakota on Saturday morning. The Bruins put five runners across the finish line to place eighth among ten scoring teams. The NAIA's fourteenth-ranked Dordt Defenders won handily placing 4 runners in the top ten.

Individually, the Bruins were led by Madison Nelson, returning from an injury that held her out of the team's last meet. Nelson came home in 23rd place in the field of 129 runners. Her time of 19:48.7 was just seven seconds from her season's best. Lorelei Hayden continued her return to form following a long layoff with a 22-second improvement on her season's best as she crossed in 20:46.7, good for 49th place. Also running a season-best was Caroline Feig, placing 68th in 21:21:9. The final two Bruins finished in the 77th and 78th spots as Alisiara Hobbs led Sarah Felten to the finish, running times of 21:43.8 and 21:45.4 respectively. Hobbs was just off her best of the season while Felten knocked eleven seconds from hers.

Head Coach Craig Christians: "The women had a really good meet. I could see that the level of effort out there was very high. When that happens, we usually end up with good times as was the case today. We've got one last shot to race this season and hopefully, we can keep the momentum going that we exhibited today."

The Bruins will host the NSAA championship meet on Friday, November 5 at the Platteview Golf Course. The women's race goes off at 10:30 followed by the men's championship at 11:30. The winning team and top four individuals who are not a member of the winning team will advance to the NAIA National Championship on November 22 at Ft. Vancouver, Wash.