EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- The Ripon College cross country program ran in a packed field for UW-Eau Claire's BluGold invite this Friday, Oct 3. Sophomore Joley Berger (Dunbar, Wis., Pembine HS) finished best for the Red Hawks, taking tenth place in the women's 6k with a 22:46.6. Senior Jeremy Saloun (Portage, Wis., Portage HS) would be the men's top finisher, taking 98th place with a time of 27:04.9. 

Berger's strong finish would be followed by junior Gabby Allard (Appleton, Wis., Kimberly HS) in 63rd place, running a 23:57.3. Junior Mya Garcia (Chino Hills, Calif., Brea Olinda HS) would round out the Red Hawks' finishers inside the top 100, running a 24:08.2 for 79th place. 

On the men's side, freshman Nathan Johnson (Neenah, Wis., Neenah HS) would finish just nine seconds behind Saloun, scoring 105th place for Ripon. Freshman Connor McBride (Queen Creek, Ariz., Basha HS) and sophomore Jaxon Hornby (Marshall, Wis., Marshall HS) would cross the line next, recording a 27:49.7 and a 27:59.5, respectively. 

The field for this year's BluGold invite provided some of the strongest competition the Red Hawks will see this year; of the 34 men's programs and 36 women's programs competing, nine programs were nationally ranked heading into the event.

The Red Hawks return to action next weekend for the Lawrence-hosted Gene Davis Invite on Saturday, Oct 11.