Upper Iowa opened their cross country season with a third-place finish at the John Kurtt Invite, accumulating 85 points as a team.

Junior Eryn Sabelka led the way for the Peacocks in the 5K event, placing 39^th overall with a time of 23:02.5. Freshman Jaydin Dettman finished seconds behind Sabelka with a time of 23:07.3 to finish 40^th. Senior Genevieve Chenoweth added a 49^th place finish in her first cross country event with a time of 36:53.5 and freshmen Tessa Lopardo (37:18.2) and Gracie Powers (37:52.4) placed 50^th and 51^st.

Hosts, Wartburg placed first as a team, as they had seven runners place in the top ten. Ellie Meyer came in first overall with a time of 17:57.4 while teammates, Haley Meyer (18:25.3) and Nadia Bowden (19:04.6) added third and fifth place finishes. Wartburg Alumni, Lexi Brown came in second, completing the race in 18:07.3 while Alyza Koppes led Cornell College to a second-place finish as a team, coming in fourth with a time of 18:50.9.

The Peacocks will stay in-state next weekend as they travel to Decorah, Iowa for the All-American Invite. Luther College will be hosting the meet, which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 11:45 a.m.