Zach Anderson

Four SDSU runners finished in the upper half of the Roy Griak Invitational, leading the women’s cross country team to a 15th-place finish in the team standings on Sept. 27.

Junior Ashley Storm led SDSU by completing the 6,000-meter course in 22 minutes, 39.5 seconds to finish 51st overall.

“Ashley is one of many leaders on the team. The women have been working very hard, and although we are not firing on all cylinders, at this point, we are setting ourselves up for what could be a memorable season. Ashley had a great run on Saturday, and she is setting a great example for the younger women on the team,” SDSU head coach Rod DeHaven said.

Fellow Jackrabbit, Claire Steinke finished 83rd overall in 23:13.5, followed by Amanda Frohling at number 100 in 23:29.2. Nicole Davis finished 106th with a time of 23:36.8.

“Our top five women ran really well on Saturday. Claire Steinke had her best race this season, Amanda Frohling and Nicole Davis ran very steady, and Kelsey Aune really stepped up,” DeHaven said.

The hosting Minnesota Gophers won the team title with 31 points; Arizona State University was second with 46 points, and New Mexico third with 89 points. The Jackrabbits placed 15th out of 23 teams with 408 points.

Kari Hardt of runner-up Arizona State won the race, which featured 222 runners, in 21:18.14.

After the lone home meet of the season on Oct. 4, the Jackrabbits will compete in the Tori Neubauer Invitational on Oct. 18. They then will compete in the Summit League Championships on Nov. 1 and the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 15.