MARION, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University and Taylor (Ind.) University went toe-to-toe at the IWU Women's Cross Country Invitational on Saturday morning at the Outdoor Sports Complex during Homecoming Weekend.

Taylor edged Indiana Wesleyan 31-24 for the meet title. The invitational was dominated by the two Grant Count schools as the first 15 runners across the line came from Indiana and Taylor.

"We were pretty pleased with the ladies today," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach John Foss. "Obviously we got beat by Taylor and last week we got beat by Huntington so we are seeded third in the conference next month."

Pacing the Wildcats on Saturday was Alyssa Foss with a third place finish in the 75-runner field. She crossed the line of the 5,000-meter course in a time of 19 minutes 16 seconds. Not far behind Foss was Angel Gaesser in fifth at 19:24.

"Our No. 1 (Gaesser) was off a little today and she probably should have won the meet but was fourth," said Foss. "Alyssa was third for our 1-2 today, but the Taylor girls were right in front of us."

The other three scorers for Indiana Wesleyan were Christina Sandberg (6th place, 19:28), Kayla Ewert (8th, 19:46), and Emily Dean (9th, 19:56). Rounding out the top-seven were Julie Kamp (12th, 20:03) and Katherine Arch (14th, 20:14).

"Considering all we lost last year to graduation, and all these freshman, we're coming along at the right point in time. So far, things are working but we still have a lot of work to do. But we're supposed to have a lot of work to do because we have a month until conference."

Grace (Ind.) College finished third with 87 points, University of Saint Francis took fourth at 125 points, and IU-Kokomo was fifth at 132 points.

Indiana Wesleyan will race again next weekend at the Bethel Invitational in Mishawaka, Indiana. The meet will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 12.