The Gustavus Women’s Cross Country team got a strong start to its season, placing first and third in the first two meets.

At Bethany Lutheran in Mankato, Minn. the Gusties took the top 19 finishing positions as they placed first out of four teams. Sophomore Kate Eggers finished in first place with a time of 24:12.3 minutes.

Traveling to Decorah, Iowa last weekend for the All-American Invitational, the Gusties finished in third place out of 10 teams. Eggers again led the Black and Gold, finishing second overall with a time of 19:21.

Coach Dale Bahr described the first meet in Mankato as being less competitive for his runners but a good gauge of where the team was after a summer of training.

“We knew it would be a good test for our ladies to get out there and see where we were at in the early season,” Bahr said. “Collectively we had very good races.”

Summer training and the early season were crucial for the Gusties, as they recovered from several big injuries the previous year. Senior captain Brooke Beskau as well as top finisher Eggers were both injured the majority of last year’s season.

“It’s just great to be actually running and a part of the team,” Eggers said.

Smart training became the focus for the team as the season approached. Avoiding injuries will be necessary for the team to achieve its high goals.

“We had really high goals for last year and we weren’t able to achieve them, so we have a different approach this year with our training,” Beskau said.

Coach Bahr agreed. “Looking at their summer mileage, it’s very good, but they seemed to do it in a way that kept them healthy. They trained smarter,” Bahr said.

Smarter training paid off for the Gusties as they placed highly in the extremely competitive Luther meet. Luther College, the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are all top contenders nationally in D3 cross country, and Gustavus’s third place finish speaks for itself. The Gusties placed three runners in the top 16 overall, with 10 teams competing.

The team looks forward to competing at St. Olaf on Sept. 18 and at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul on Sept. 25.

“I think we’ll do good things this season as long as we keep healthy and keep training. I think we’ll surprise some people,” Beskau said.