The experience Katie Munk and Natalie Bowers gained running together the past two seasons on the Austin girls' cross country teams is paying dividends now that there is a Packer team to run with them.

Austin finished second as a team at the Kato Invite Tuesday in Mankato, led by Munk and Bowers. Munk won the girls' competition by three seconds and Bowers went out with her, clocking a personal-best in placing fifth for the Pack.

All six Austin runners finished in the top 20 of the four-team invite.

"Katie had a fantastic race," said AHS coach Tony Einertson. "We talked before the race and decided that we wanted to go out in about six minutes for the first mile. Katie did just that and then kept on going."

Munk clocked in with a 15:32, three seconds ahead of the second-placed competitor from Mankato East. Bowers went out with Munk and set the stage for a strong second mile, eventually finishing with a personal record.

"Our two captains are leading the way for our younger runners who are starting to perform outstanding," Einertson said.

Mary Claire Chao ran a personal-best time of 16:41, finishing in 10th overall. Molly Thatcher's 12th-place finish came at the benefit of a personal record 17:04, while Megan Wilson's 16th-placed 17:25 was just behind her own best effort. Michelle Dammen's 19th-place finish, although not counting towards the final team score, clocked in a personal-record time of 17:38 -- nearly 1:30 better than her previous best.

"The girls now have six runners below 18 minutes for 2.5 miles, a wonderful accomplishment for the girls' team," Einertson said.

The Packers will need those times again when Austin next runs Oct. 3 at the Owatonna Invitational.

Results:

Team standings -- 1. Mankato East 32, 2. Austin 44, 3. Mankato West 62, 4. Rochester JM 95

Individual (top five) -- 1. Katie Munk, Austin, 15:32; 2. Megan Lundgren, Mankato East, 15:35; 3. Amanda Umhoefer, Mankato West, 15:46; 4. Amanda Jaskin, Mankato West, 16:00; 5. Natalie Bowers, Austin, 16:19.

AUSTIN (44) -- 1. Katie Munk 15:32, 5. Natalie Bowers 16:19, 10. Mary Claire Chao 16:41, 12. Molly Thatcher 17:04, 16. Megan Wilson 17:25, 19. Michelle Dammen 17:38.