RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2026 season Friday evening at the fourth annual River Town Invitational, held at Prescott High School.
Entering this evening's race, both Falcon squads sit at No. 8 in the North Region. Both teams posted top-three team finishes, with the UWRF men placing second and the women finishing third.
The Falcon men totaled 42 points to finish runner-up behind Carleton, which won the men's team title with 33 points. UWRF placed four runners inside the top 10 and all five scoring runners among the top 14.
Ryan Pierson led the Falcons to the finish line, placing third overall in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 27:01.7.
Wyatt Johnson followed close behind in sixth at 27:17.6, while
Alex Pazdernik took ninth in 27:35.6.
Jack Richter gave UWRF its fourth top-10 finisher, crossing the line in 27:47.6 to place 10th overall.
Cooper Smith rounded out the Falcons' top five, finishing 14th in 28:31.3.
On the women's side, UWRF scored 70 points to finish third in the six-team field behind Minnesota Duluth and Carleton. Minnesota Duluth claimed the team title with 28 points, followed by Carleton with 51.
Laina Viere paced the Falcons in the 6,000-meter race, finishing seventh overall with a time of 24:41.9. Freshman
Lola Olsen followed with a 12th-place finish in 25:31.5, while
Adison Wilde crossed the line 15th in 25:38.5.
Freshman
Claire Story placed 17th with a time of 26:00.0, and
Issabella Jeurissen completed the Falcons' scoring five in 19th place at 26:15.9.
The Falcons take a few weeks off and return to action September 19
th as they compete in the St. Olaf Invitational in Northfield, Minn.
