STURGIS, S.D. — The No. 21-ranked Carleton College women's cross country program opened the season with a team victory at the Gage McSpadden Invite. The Knights had 4 of the top 6 finishers, including senior Aliya Larsen and a trio of rookies.
 
The season lid-lifter was a four-kilometer competition against a quartet of NCAA Division II programs (Black Hills State, Chadron State, Montana State-Billings, and South Dakota Mines) in addition to Rocky Mountain College (a NAIA program) and a pair of individual entrants from Central Wyoming of the NJCAA.
 
Carleton totaled 28 points to edge meet host Blake Hills State, which had 45 points.
 
Claire Vukovics paced the Knights with a time of 14:49.1, good for a runner-up result in her collegiate debut. Classmates Lauren Tittel and Amelia Campbell were next across the line at 14:51.2 and 14:56.1, respectively, as they finished third and fourth.
 
Larsen finished sixth overall in the field of 61 runners, clocking a time of 15:15.6.
 
First-year Louise Ruzanic rounded out the scoring for Carleton by placing 13th at 15:42.8. Kayla Marx finished 16th at 15:52.9, while another first-year, Nina Peterson, was the squad's other "pusher" after placing 29th at 16:16.1.
 
"It has been a productive and fun week of training in South Dakota," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "The Michelson trail has provided great running, and the team has had the opportunity to explore beautiful parks and lakes as well as Mount Rushmore.

"We are excited about the future of this team. This week and tonight's race demonstrated that they are a young and talented team. There is a lot of work to be done, and they are willing to do it. This is a solid start to a promising season."
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton returns to Minnesota and will compete at the Hamline Invitational on Friday, Sept. 12th. The race has a scheduled 6:45 p.m. start.