Redshirt senior Mia Beckham crosses the finish line to take home first place at the Redbird Invitational. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.

TEDDY WYNARD | SPORTS REPORTER | twynard@butler.edu

The Butler women’s cross country team traveled to Normal, Ill this past Friday to compete in the Redbird Invitational, their second race of the season.

The Bulldogs took the top spot at the meet with 27 points beating second place Wartburg with 40 points and host Illinois State who had 65 points who took the final podium spot.

It wasn’t just a team victory for Butler though, as redshirt senior Mia Beckham came home to take a first place win with a time of 21:16.5 and a 16 second gap between her and second place.

The women’s team also had three other runners place in the top ten. Redshirt sophomore Abby Olson finished with a time of 21:33.9 to take third place, redshirt freshmen Laure Bertrand took fourth place with a time of 21:37.9 and redshirt sophomore Katherine Olsen took seventh place with a time of 21:54.9.

Rounding out the points scorers for Butler, redshirt freshmen Lexi Affolter ran a time of 22:18.7 to take twelfth in the meet.

Redshirt sophomore Morgan Werner was the next to finish for Butler, just a few seconds after Affolter with a time of 22:21.2 to take 14th place.

Finishing the runners with times in the 22s, redshirt sophomore Abby Fostveit ran a time of 22:55.5 which placed her 23rd overall.

The Bulldogs then had four runners finish within 23 seconds. Redshirt junior Morgan Walsh had a time of 23:03.5 for 25th place, redshirt freshmen Elsa Rusthoven finished 31st with a time of 23:23.6. Then, both redshirt freshmen Ashley Learn and sophomore Ashlyn Minton crossed the finish line together with a time of 23:35.8 to take home 36th and 37th places, respectively.

Redshirt sophomore Renate Toldo was the final runner to cross the line for Butler, running a time of 24:58.5 to place 58th overall.

That is two first place finishes to start the year for the Bulldogs and they look to continue that dominance in two weeks time at the Joe Piane Invitational.