Home » St. Olaf Teams Run to Victory in ACM Invitational Cross Country Meet

St. Olaf Teams Run to Victory in ACM Invitational Cross Country Meet

St. Olaf Teams Run to Victory in ACM Invitational Cross Country Meet September 18, 2012

The St. Olaf College women’s and men’s cross country teams topped the standings in the first ACM Invitational Cross Country Meet on September 15 in Northfield, MN. Carleton College took second place in both competitions.

Start of women's 6k raceAt the start of the women’s 6k race, 381 runners from 24 colleges took off at the St. Olaf Invitational Cross Country Meet. Women’s teams from seven ACM colleges competed for the ACM Invitational title, which was cross-scored as part of the meet.

The meet, featuring women’s teams from seven ACM colleges and men’s teams from six ACM colleges, was scored separately, but run as part of the annual St. Olaf Invitational Cross Country meet, in which more than 600 runners from 24 colleges and universities competed.

In the ACM results, St. Olaf runners Jorden Johnson and Emma Lee captured first and second places, respectively, and Carleton’s Ruth Steinke was third in the 6k women’s race. Grant Wintheiser from St. Olaf set the pace in the men’s 8k race, followed by Carleton’s Marcus Huderle and Andrew Dewar from Coe College.

The ACM Invitational is part of an effort by the consortium’s athletic directors to foster athletic competitions in a variety of sports among ACM member colleges, especially among those that compete in different athletic conferences.

“Cross country coaches from seven ACM schools – Beloit, Carleton, Coe, Grinnell, Knox, Macalester, and St. Olaf – worked with their student athletes to find time in their schedules, and funds in their budgets, so the students could compete with athletes from their sister schools,” said ACM President Christopher Welna, who attended the meet. “It was a thrill to see these students run together through the grassy fields around St. Olaf’s hilltop campus, and I appreciate their efforts to make this ACM Invitational event possible.”

Women's race at St. Olaf Invitational

Another ACM Invitational will be hosted by Grinnell College this winter in indoor track, with men’s and women’s teams from at least four ACM colleges competing. In fall 2011, teams from Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester College participated in an ACM Women’s Golf Invitational hosted by Carleton and won by the St. Olaf squad.

The ACM has roots in athletics dating from the 1920s, as the ten colleges that were sports rivals in the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference formed this academic consortium in 1959. Six of those colleges were charter members of the conference when it was organized in 1921. Today, ACM colleges participate in four different athletic conferences, with eight competing in the Midwest Conference.

ACM’s athletic heritage was celebrated in 2008 to mark the consortium’s first 50 years with the ACM 50th Anniversary Invitational Soccer Classic, hosted in Minnesota by Carleton, Macalester, and St. Olaf.

ACM Invitational Cross Country Meet

September 15, 2012 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN

Women’s 6k results:

  1. Men's 8k race at the St. Olaf InvitationalTeams from six ACM colleges were among 295 runners from 221 colleges in the men’s 8k race at the St. Olaf Invitational.

    St. Olaf College

  2. Carleton College
  3. Grinnell College
  4. Macalester College
  5. Beloit College
  6. Coe College
  7. Knox College

Men’s 8k results:

  1. St. Olaf College
  2. Carleton College
  3. Macalester College
  4. Coe College
  5. Knox College
  6. Beloit College
Knox College women's team
Beloit College men's team
Coe College women's team
Grinnell College women's team
St. Olaf women's team

Among the teams competing in the ACM Invitational Cross Country meet were (clockwise from top right): the Beloit men’s team, and women’s teams from Grinnell (pictured with ACM President Christopher Welna), St. Olaf, Coe, and Knox.

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