JOPLIN, Mo. – Minnesota State women's cross country turned in a top-10 performance for the third straight season after finishing ninth at the NCAA Division II Central Region Cross Country Championships Saturday at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
 
The Mavericks were led by junior Alexi MacDonald (Rice Lake, Wisconsin), who finished 16^th with a 6K time of 21:33.55. Not far behind was Madison Matzek, who crossed 24^th with a time of 21:47.25.
 
"Overall, I was pleased with our performance," said head coach Jen Blue. "We had two earn All-Region honors, Alexi (MacDonald) and Madison (Matzek). We came in ranked 10th in the region and finished ninth. On a perfect day I was hoping for top seven, but they all went out and competed and left it all on the course."
 
Augustana (S.D.) took the team title with three top-10 finishers and 82 points. Pittsburgh State (110), University of Mary (116), Winona State (130) and Rogers State (137) rounded out the top five. Alyssa Becker (UMary) came across first individually with a time of 20:20.20.
 
Other top finishers for Minnesota State included Makayla Bishop (70^th, 22:40.33), Emily Cunningham (73^rd, 22:41.05), Olivia Minear (110^th, 23:20.64), Maria Selting (113^th, 23:26.08) and Addison Peed (133^rd, 23:46.70).
 
Women's cross country finished 10^th at the same event last fall and third in 2022.