BURLINGTON - The five other women's cross country teams at Friday's Wiley Wilson Memorial meet proved no match for the University of Mary.
The Marauders took the top-eight spots in the 3.1-mile (5K) course at Wildwood Country Club - a fairly flat course, which was bothered by little wind.
Mary senior Melissa Agnew won the race in 18 minutes, 18 seconds to beat classmate Dakota Wolf by 21 seconds. Mary's remaining scorers (top five) finished in under 19:38.
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Tim Chapman/MDN
Minot State University senior Cassie Sayler runs in the Wiley Wilson Memorial at Burlington’s Wildwood Country Club on Friday. Sayler finished ninth in the 3.1-mile race behind eight University of Mary runners.
"I think we ran fair today," Mary coach Dennis Newell said. "I gotta go back and look at a lot of things to say if it was good or bad or great, but I think it looks fair."
Mary won the meet with 15 points and Minot State University took second with 63.
MSU senior Cassie Sayler was the first woman to finish in a jersey that wasn't blue and orange. Sayler finished in 20:12 to lead the Beavers. MSU freshman Tasha Heisler, a Velva High School graduate, finished two spots later in 11th place at 20:24.
"I was happy with the place," Sayler said. "I guess I wanted to run a little bit faster, but I guess that always comes with running."
Sayler would like to see her time drop about 40 seconds by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships on Oct. 20.
Strong debut for Parshall native Wells
In his first collegiate race, Parshall High School graduate Kenny Wells finished third in the Wiley Wilson.
Wells, a freshman running unattached from Dickinson State, ran the 4.97-mile (8K) course in 26:40. Mary's Jesse Bennett won the event in 26:02 followed by DSU's Denis Patrick in 26:06.
"Feels awesome, especially as a freshman in college," Wells said. "This is really where I want to be. I'm not looking, you know, to go a good time my first race, (but) just to see where I'm at."
MSU senior Brandon Velasquez led the Beavers, finishing 14th in 27:53. The Beavers took fourth out of five schools with 91 points.
"I just didn't run very good," Velasquez said. "First (kilometer), I felt pretty relaxed; second K, decent; then third on, my quads just felt really heavy and I couldn't get any turnover."
Velasquez would like to be running less than 26 minutes by season's end.
DSU's top five finished in the top 10 overall to win the meet with 26 points.