Carl Bauer's second-best career run resulted in a third-place overall finish and a second-place Austin finish as the Packer cross country team competed at the Kato Invite Tuesday in Mankato.

Bauer broke out with a 5-minute first mile and kept the pace close through the finish with a time of 16:38, trailing only his record-setting time at the Hayfield Invitational earlier this season. The Packers were second out of four teams at the meet.

"Carl and I talked before the meet and made the decision that we were going to go out hard," said Austin coach Tony Einertson.

Bauer ran the second mile in around 5:15 and finished the final 1.1-mile trek in around 5 minutes. He was chased by an improving team of Packers, led by Brandon Downs' 17:47 time in 11th place. Kevin Groh gave chase in 12th at 17:51, and Jordan VanProosdy was just back at 14th in 18:09.

Nate Moser rounded out the Packers' scoring times in 18th in 18:41, and Chase Kusterer's 22nd place finish clocked in at 19:12 in his first varsity race. His time was nearly one minute under his previous best effort. Moser and VanProosdy each ran personal-bests.

"Our second, third and fourth runners continue to improve," Coach Einertson said. "It is nice to see the improvement that all of our runners are showing. Almost all of the boys, starting with Carl and ending with our JV (junior varsity) kids, had season-bests or close to season-bests.

"It was nice to see some of the other teams in the Big Nine in something other than a big meet. It gives our athlets confidence going into the next couple of weeks."

Mankato West won the meet with 20 team points, led by the 1-2-4 finishers surrounding Bauer. Austin's 58 points was just ahead of Mankato East (61) for second. Rochester John Marshall, with 96 points, was fourth.

The Packers do not run again until next Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Owatonna Invitational.

Results:

Team standings -- 1. Mankato West 20, 2. Austin 58, 3. Mankato East 61, 4. Rochester John Marshall 96.

Individual (top five) -- 1. Sejin Takamnea, Mankato West, 16:10; 2. Hans Storvick, Mankato West, 16:24; 3. Carl Bauer, Austin, 16:38; 4. Aaron Jones, Mankato West, 16:43; 5. Ryan Pfeffer, Mankato East, 16:44.

AUSTIN (58) -- 3. Carl Bauer 16:38, 11. Brandon Downs 17:47, 12. Kevin Groh 17:51, 14. Jordan VanProosdy 18:09, 18. Nate Moser 18:41, 22. Chase Kusterer 19:12.