The Nanooks' running squad took to the trails this weekend at St. Martin's University in Lacey, Wash. for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet, and both the men and the women met their goals for the season.

In what coach Scott Jerome called "the surprise of the day," sophomore Aurelia Korthauer led the Nanook women to a fifth place finish, meeting their goal of placing fifth or higher in the meet.

Korthauer finished 14th overall in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 22 minutes, 51 seconds.

"I think our team did awesome, and we were all really close," she said.

Her teammates weren't far behind her; the next three Nanook runners were within a minute of her.

Sophomore Julia Coulter came in 26th, followed closely by her twin sister Anna at 29 and Beth Zirbes at 31, and split by just over one second.

Elisabeth Habermann, the final scoring runner for the 'Nooks, came in 36th at 23:58, only 1:07 behind Korthauer.

Last year the Nanook women finished in seventh place with two runners earning All-Conference honors (top ten finishes). Pavla Havlova won the race, and Johanna Turunen took sixth.

Although there were no All-Conference finishes for the 'Nooks this year, Jerome was impressed with the depth his team showed, and that boosted their place as well.

"I just can't tell you how pleased I am with how our women ran," he said, "It's very satisfying to see all the women step up on the same day."

Sophomore Allan Spangler led the men's team to its 8th place finish. He was 49th in the 8-kilometer race with a time of 27:24. The men's times were similarly spaced with the women, five runners within about a minute and a half.

Ray Sabo, Bart Dengel, Marius Korthauer, and Vahur Teppan rounded out the Nanooks score at 55, 57, 64, and 66.

"It was a very solid race for them." Jerome said. They finished about where he had expected them to, and met their goal of improving from last year. Last year's team finished 10th place of 10 teams.

This year there were only nine teams, but the 'Nooks improved their rank still.

Although the teams can go to the NCAA West Regional meet, the Nanooks have elected not to attend, due to the upcoming ski season. Jerome, who is also the ski coach, said the first ski meet is scheduled in three weeks.

Four of the men and five of the women who competed this weekend are also on the ski team and looking forward to prepare for that season, including Korthauer.

"I hope we get snow soon," she said.