SALEM, Ore. – The No. 11-ranked Carleton College women cross country team traveled to the West Coast and finished third at the George Oja Linfield Invitational. The Knights finished behind regionally-ranked NCAA Division I programs from Oregon State University and University of Portland.

"Coming out to the West Coast to compete against other teams was a great experience for this team," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "This meet allowed our team to see competitors we are not familiar with and to sharpen our racing skills. It was exciting to see the personal bests that were achieved and to see Hannah Preisser break 21 minutes for the first time!"
 
Oregon State totaled 42 points in the team competition, followed by Portland at 45. Carleton earned a scored of 75 points, and Southern Oregon—the No. 9 ranked team in NAIA—took fourth at the 19-team meet with 144 points. Carleton has not finished behind a NCAA Division III program since the 2022 National Championships.

Preisser paced the Knights as she finished third overall with a time of 20:56.0. Sophie McManus clocked a time of 21:51.7 as she placed 14th in the field of 180 runners. Aliy Larsen was next to cross the line, taking 19th at 22:16.7.
 
Libby Rowland, Lara Erickson, and Nora Daley also finished in the top 35. Rowland finished at 22:39.0 to take 27th place, Erickson was 32nd at 22:52.40, and Daley clocked in at 22:54.2, which was good for 35th place.
 
Kayla Marx and Maggie Votruba posted times of 23:44.7 and 24:11.9, respectively, as they finished 64th and 73rd overall.

"Across the board the team did a tremendous job racing and closing the spread," Ricks said. "This meet signifies the beginning of the championship season. There is still a great deal of training and racing ahead. I look forward to seeing the continued development of this team."
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will race at the MIAC Championships on Nov. 2. That competition will be held at nearby St. Olaf College.