In its busiest weekend of the season, cross country competed in both the Bronco Invitational (held in Santa Clara) and the Pre-NCAA Invitational (held in Terre Haute, Ind.).

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The Stanford women solidified their No. 1 ranking this past weekend at the Pre-NCAA Invitational held in Terre Haute, Ind. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8005
Stanford Daily File Photo

The Stanford women solidified their No. 1 ranking this past weekend at the Pre-NCAA Invitational held in Terre Haute, Ind.

The No. 1 women ran away with first place at the Pre-NCAAs. The men, ranked fifth in the nation at the time, had a less impressive result, finishing in sixth place at the weekend event.

The Stanford women won their event rather easily, besting their closest competitor, Florida State (who finished with 123 points), with a low score of 102. The team was led by senior Teresa McWalters, who finished second overall in the Invite with a time of 20:02. Fellow senior Arianna Lambie finished just behind at 20:02. Other notable performances were turned in by junior Alicia Follmar (20:51) and Alex Gits (20:58).

“The women were ecstatic,” junior Hakon DeVries said. “They’re No. 1 in the country — they proved that on Saturday. They ran away with the race; they looked really strong, and they definitely showed that they’re the team to beat.”

The No. 5 men came into their Saturday race with high expectations but ended up in a somewhat disappointing sixth place.

“It was disappointing, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked on paper,” DeVries said.

The Cardinal men were led by senior Russell Brown, who came in 11th place overall at 23:37. Junior Hari Mix (23:47) had Stanford’s second-best performance, while senior Neftalem Araia (24:04) and DeVries (24:09) rounded out the line-up for the Cardinal.

The Pre-NCAA Invite took place on the same course where the NCAA Championships will be held in a little over a month. Featuring some of the best teams from around the country, the Invite was a good chance for Stanford to get its bearings on the championship course while also checking out top opposing competition.

Both the men and women sent their top seven runners to the pre-NCAAs while entering the rest of their teams in the Bronco Invitational held at Santa Clara University.

The Stanford men earned a sixth place finish with 170 points in the event, while the women came in 12th place with 208 points. Each squad sent five runners to the Invite.

Notable performances from the men were turned in by senior Lauren Jespersen (24:51) and junior Chris Mocko (25:23). Jespersen came in fourth place overall, Mocko in 21st.

As a whole, the Cardinal was happy with the weekend. With national championships just a month away, both the men’s and women’s teams are getting ready for the stretch run.

“The women have won two [national titles] in a row,” DeVries said. “This year they’re definitely pointing towards winning a third. All of the women are really excited with how the season is going so far. Everyone’s staying healthy. Everyone’s really fit. Their chances are really good.

“As far as the men are concerned, we have a young team. The more we race, the better we’re going to be. It’s encouraging for us to know that each race out there we’re improving.”

Stanford’s next competition will be in two weeks in the Pac-10 Championships on Oct. 27 in Corvallis, Ore.