The University of Minnesota Duluth women's cross country team placed third overall in the NSIC Conference Championships Saturday morning in Wayne, Neb., their highest finish at the conference championship since 2017.

The team won third with 86 points overall behind only Augustana, who had just 20 points on the day, and University of Mary, who took second with 84 points. Rounding out the top five were Minnesota State (4th place, 102 points), and Winona State (5th, 110).

Julia Nielsen paced the team with an eighth place overall finish. Nielsen ran a 22:08.23, a personal record of nearly 40 seconds. All but three Bulldogs ran personal bests today.

Maddie Verkerke and Morgan Radel came in 14th and 15th, respectively. Verkerke came in at 22:28.33, while Radel came in 10.1 seconds later at 22:38.43. Both were personal records of over ten seconds.

Lauryn Renier and Anna Palodichuk were the next Bulldogs to cross the finish line, with Renier finishing in 23:13.08, good for 28th, and Palodichuk coming in 29th at the 23:16.8 mark. Both also set personal bests -- Palodichuk ran nearly 36 seconds faster than her previous fastest time.

Alexandra Robran came in 37th, running 23:31.10. Anna Eich was the next Bulldog to finish, coming in 50th with a 24:05.01, a personal record of ten seconds. Franny Seidel came in 55th, running a 24:14.77 (a personal best of 35 seconds). Eve Anderson was the last Bulldog to PR, coming in 66th at the 24:36.72 mark. Savannah Schley came in 70th (24:46.09) and Alaina Steele came in 97th (25:50.03).

Fresh off this third place finish at the conference championship, the team will next head to the NCAA Central Regional November 6th in Joplin, Missouri.