NJunior Emily Brown bettered the school record over a 6-kilometer course by over 10 seconds to highlight the No. 10 Minnesota women’s cross country team’s performance at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday. Brown finished 13th overall in a time of 20 minutes, 37.2 seconds, smashing the old record of 20:49.77 by former Gopher Darja Vasiljeva.

The Golden Gophers tallied 232 points to finish in sixth place among the 25 teams competing in the Blue Race. No. 3 Stanford won the team title with 86 points. No. 2 Michigan won the White Race crown also scoring 86 team points.

Sophomore Ladia Albertson-Junkans also finished with a time well below the old school record. Albertson-Junkans crossed the finish line in 17th place with a time of 20:38.6.

“They were flying out there,” said Golden Gopher head coach Gary Wilson. “It was a great day to run on a fast course.”

Lauren Williams was the third Gopher finisher in 28th place in a time of 20:53.3, her career best and the fourth-fastest time in school history. Completing the Gopher scorers were Harper McConnell in 56th place in a time of 21:28.3 and Jen Hess in 109th in 22:08.6.

“We continue work on closing that gap between our fourth and fifth runners,” added Wilson. “Today, we just started the race too fast and didn’t have enough at the end.”

While the Gophers’ top runners were competing at the Pre-NCAA Meet, the remainder of the team competed at the Tori Neubauer Invitational in West Salem, Wis. The Gophers placed 11th among a 22-team field with 301 points. Jena Trask was the top finisher, placing 21st in a time of 22:34.6.

The Gophers' next competition is in two weeks when Minnesota plays host to the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Sunday, Oct. 30.

Pre-NCAA Meet – Blue Race (6K) Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 Terre Haute, Ind. Team Results 1. Stanford 3-4-19-24-36-(47)-(62) 86 2. Notre Dame 6-15-20-30-76-(144)-(165) 147 3. Columbia 2-9-34-68-94-(105)-(106) 207 4. BYU 11-32-49-53-64-(78)-185) 209 N.C. State 12-16-43-52-86-(93) 209 6. Minnesota 13-17-28-56-109-(160)-(173) 223 * 35 teams competed Top 10 Individuals 1. Victoria Mitchell (Butler) 20:01.5 2. Caroline Bierbaum (Columbia) 20:01.8 3. Arianna Lambie (Stanford) 20:10.3 4. Teresa McWalters (Stanford) 20:14.5 5. Lindsey Scherf (Harvard) 20:15.4 6. Stephanie Madia (Notre Dame) 20:17.6 7. Johanna Nilsson (N. Arizona) 20:25.4 8. Ashley Caldwell (UCLA) 20:29.0 9. Lisa Stublic (Columbia) 20:30.3 10. Lauren Blankenship (Samford) 20:33.7 Golden Gopher Finishers 13. Emily Brown 20:37.2 17. Ladia Albertson-Junkans 20:38.6 28. Lauren Williams 20:53.3 56. Harper McConnell 21:28.3 109. Jen Hess 22:08.6 160. Katie Howery 22:42.9 173. Julie Schwengler 22:50.8 Gophers Competing in Open Race 35. Carie Steil 22:41.1 36. Danielle Ashford 22:43.7 40. Kristen Johansen 22:47.3 54. Stefanie Zeihen 23:02.9 59. Ariella DePrenger-Gottfried 23:06.3 Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 West Salem, Wis. Team Results 1. UW-LaCrosse 72 11. Minnesota 301 Golden Gopher Finishers 21. Jena Trask 22:34.6 47. Ayla Mitchell 23:15.9 62. Shanna Bodilly 23:29.0 91. Lisa Remark 23:52.9 95. Debbie Thompson 23:55.9 109. Brittany Laughlin 24:04.9 127. Heather Horton 24:17.5 128. Theresa Ascheman 24:18.2 168. Allison Joelson 24:57.1 175. Sarah Flom 25:03.7 188. Diana Berlinerblau 25:12.1 235. Katie Barylak 26:01.8 245. Ashley Gerjets 26:11.5 274. Courtney Sanders 26:59.7