The Iowa State women’s cross country team fell just short of winning the team title at the Iowa State Memorial Invitational Saturday.

Minnesota took home top honors with 36 points, with the Cyclones right behind in second with 40 points. The Golden Gophers finished with an average time of 18:24 to the Cyclones’ 18:34.

“I was really pleased with how we ran. The kids ran with a lot of heart and desire,” Cyclone coach Dick Lee said. “Minnesota is the 13th-ranked team in the nation, and we came within four points of them.”

The Cyclones put together a strong performance as their top four runners all placed in the top 10. Andrea Crapisi was the first Cyclone across the finish line in 18:23, which was good for fifth place.

Alienor Gilchrist finished sixth in 18:26, Emily Martini finished seventh in 18:27 and Laurie Meythaler came in eighth with a time of 18:28.

“Our front group did a great job of staying in a pack. That’s the strength of this team,” Lee said. “We packed four runners in five seconds, and that’s running a fabulous race.”

Lee was also happy to see the communication going on between the front pack of Cyclone runners and thought that was a key to the good showing.

“The girls stayed together and supported each other. If you followed them along the race you’d be suprised at how much talking is going back and forth. They were encouraging each other to stay in that group,” Lee said.

Crapisi was satisfied with her individual performance but was more happy with how the team finished and gave credit to Gilchrist for leading them.

“This is one of our best finishes as a team, and being that close together at the finish line was pretty exciting. This meet is something to build from and help us for later in the season,” Crapisi said. “I ended up our first runner across, but Alienor pushed us and didn’t let us quit out there.”

Other finishers for the Cyclones were Jessica Huff, 15th, 19:07; Laura Bahnson, 28th, 19:41; Cara Vaneck, 34th, 20:00; Ashley Drahn, 36th, 20:07; Hillary Liepa, 42nd, 20:26; Kristy Kubik, 47th, 20:43; Jennifer Crapisi, 56th, 21:15; and Maaike Ouwersloot, 66th, 22:06.

Rounding out the team standings were Drake in third with 77 points, Wisconsin-Milwaukee in fourth and Illinois State in fifth.

The Cyclones race again Saturday at Bloomington, Ind. in the NCAA Pre-Meet at 10 a.m.