PRESCOTT, Wis. – The No. 17-ranked Carleton College women's cross country program finished second out of six teams at the season-opening River Town Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
 
"It has been a great week of preseason training," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "We have a young team that is willing to work hard and run for each other. The heat most certainly impacted some of our races. Regardless, we still had strong performances and are excited about this team."
 
Despite race-time temperatures in the upper 80s, the Knights put their five scorers — all sophomores or first-years — inside the top 25 and finished with a team score of 51 points. University of Minnesota-Duluth, a NCAA Division II program, captured the team title with 28 points.
 
Sophomore Lauren Tittel was first across the line for Carleton, covering the six-kilometer course at Prescott High School in 24:03.1 to place third overall. Right on her heels was rookie Abigail Burns, who finished fourth at 24:05.8.
 
Sophomore Nina Peterson placed eighth with a time of 25:05.7, while classmate Louise Ruzanic took 13th place at 25:32.2. Sophomore Nicole Peterson rounded out the scoring by finishing 23rd at 26:34.5.
 
Two other first-years were next to finish for the Knights. Jane Coffey-Reed was 29th at 27:15.3, while Liv Fraser placed 33rd at 27:45.8. Sophomore Sierra Cherniavksy was 39th overall with a time of 28:29.1
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will next race on Friday, Sept. 18 at the Toni St. Pierre Invite hosted by the College of Saint Benedict.