The College of Saint Benedict cross country team had another successful season in 2017, as head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue’s young team made an impact.
 
The team finished in the top half of the field at its first six meets, and looked to continue its streak of top-five finishes at the MIAC Championships. Injuries took their toll, however, and CSB finished eighth at the conference meet – its first finish outside the top five since 2010.
 
The team turned it around at the NCAA Regionals, registering their second consecutive top-15 finish, coming in 14^th out of 32 teams.
 
As she did all season, Morgan Pierce led CSB at the MIAC Championship, finishing 25^th in 23:23.85. That marked her best finish at the conference meet in her three seasons. Pierce led CSB in every meet she competed in, seven total, including the MIAC Championships and NCAA Regional. Pierce won both the Luther All-American Invite and the CSB Alumnae meet. In her junior season, Pierce ran the sixth-best 6K time in CSB history and the 12^th-best 5K time.
 
Junior Allison McGraw also finished top-30 for CSB at the MIAC Championships, and the 29^th-place finish marked the best of her career. Olivia Dengel, Althea Gutzmann, Alli Ruprecht, Rachel Nelson and Morgan Durbin all finished in the top 60.
 
Pierce – who earned USTFCCCA All-academic honors as a junior – earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors at the end of the season and was voted the team’s MVP. McGraw and sophomore Caroline Osborne were vote the team’s Most Improved, and Durbin, who was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team, won the Blazer Spirit Award.
 
As a team, Saint Benedict earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for the 22^nd straight year.