BILLINGS - The Carroll College women's cross country team finished fourth Saturday at the Yellowjacket Invitational on a frigid day of competition.

The Saints men finished in seventh place at Riverfront Park, but were missing three of their top five runners to illness and injury.

Carroll's top women's finisher was Jamie Greene, whose time of 19 minutes, 15 seconds was good enough for eighth place in the 5K race.

"She's our No. 2, and that's the fastest 5K she's ever run in her life," said Carroll coach Bill Ballinger.

Carroll's Taylor Gregory also set a personal record, taking seventh in the men's 8K in 26:14.

Black Hills State of South Dakota captured both of the men's and women's team titles, with Wendy O'Lexey winning in 18:02. The Blacks Hills men claimed the first three spots, with Mark Mazza winning the race in 25:27.

More importantly for the Saints, the women finished just one point behind Frontier Conference rival University of Great Falls.

"We're starting to close the gap with them," said Ballinger.

Despite the freezing weather, the Montana State Billings team turned in some of its top times all season, with seven different Yellowjacket women receiving PRs. The MSU-B women finished in second place, while the men took fourth.

Ballinger said the thing about the elements is that they affect everyone the same.

"It's a flat course, so the ground was frozen pretty hard," Ballinger said. "So I think if it had been warmer the times might have actually been slower because the ground would have been mushy. When it's frozen it's more like running on pavement."

The Saints now head into the most competitive part of their season, and will face a tough test next Saturday in Moscow, Idaho.