Women's Results 
Oct. 3, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -- The excitement of the inaugural Wisconsin adidas Invitational overpowered the gloomy forecast Saturday.
Seven of the top 30 nationally-ranked teams were in attendance for the debut of the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
Wisconsin's Caitlin Comfort broke into the top 10 of the women's 5-kilometer race by placing ninth out of the 123 runners with a time of 17:27.9. As a whole, UW placed 11th overall in the team standings.
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Duke, ranked No. 29 nationally won the team race with 78 points. No. 21 Syracuse ended with 80 points for a close second-place finish. No. 10-ranked Illinois ended at third with BYU at fourth and No. 17 Michigan rounding out the top five.
"It's always nice to come out and run well for the team," Comfort said. "It's important for everyone to run well and take advantage of our home course."
"The team was really excited to get these amazing teams out here and welcome them to our new home course," she added. "When we were practicing yesterday, a few teams yelled out that they really liked the course ... it was great to hear."
Stepping up for the Badgers was freshman Kiah Ehrke, who finished second on the team and 67th overall in 18:19.9. She was followed by junior Karen Greuel who crossed the finish line 10 seconds later, earning 77th place.
Senior Hanna Grinaker, competing unattached, finished 83rd overall in a time of 18:47.5.
Karlye Wolff and Alexa Renstrom finished next for the Badgers, earning 96th and 103rd place, respectively.
With three of their top runners not competing at their full potential, the Badgers are not yet at full strength.
"Leah Coyle, Hanna Grinaker and Ashley Beutler are not ready to go and that's a killer for us right now," said head coach Jim Stintzi. "As far as the meet goes, it's pretty exciting. We were definitely excited about the opening of the course and the quality of the meet we can put on here."
The Badgers have two weeks to regain their strength before heading to Terre Haute, Ind. on Oct. 17 for the Pre-NCAA Invitational.
Women's 5K Results (PDF)
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Megan Kelley
UW Athletic Communications
