Titans Finish 20th In 50-Team Kollege Town Sports Invitational
Lucas Weber's 37th-place run helped the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country team finish 20th at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational held Saturday (Oct. 13) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.
A total of 857 men from nearly 60 collegiate programs competed in the event's three 6,000-meter races – Pre-National, Open and Invitational.
Weber completed his 8,000-meter journey in the Pre-National event with a time of 25:54. Weber, along with teammates Cody Chadwick, Andrew George, Andrew Muskevitsch and Justin Skinkis helped the Titans total 565 points in the team scoring.
Chadwick finished 75th with a time of 26:19 while George placed 134th in 26:47, Muskevitsch 157th in 26:59 and Skinkis 163rd in 27:03.
The Titans also had Michael Juarez finish 185th with a time of 27:15 and Steven Potter 288th in 28:34.
Two-time defending NCAA Division III champion North Central College (Ill.) owned three of the top five runners in winning the Pre-National race. Dhruvil Patel led the Cardinals with a victorious time of 25:04 while Matthew Osmulski finished second in 25:14 and Al Baldonado fifth in 25:18.
Dylan Gearinger of Haverford College (Pa.) finished third in the 350-runner field with a time of 25:15. Lucas Mueller of Carleton College (Minn.) placed fourth with a run of 25:16.
North Central College, this season's top-ranked Division III program by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the team title with 41 points. The Cardinals were followed by second-place and sixth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) with 97 points; third-place and ninth-ranked Calvin College (Mich.) with 127; fourth-place and fifth-ranked Haverford College with 144; and third-ranked and fifth-place Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.) with 277.
No team scores were kept as North Central College's Gabe Pommier captured the individual title in the Open category with a time of 26:19. Washington University in St. Louis swept the next three places as Noah Trimark finished second in 26:24, Tucker Cera third in 26:25 and Jack Sebok fourth in 26:28.
Fabian Salinas Arroyo paced UW-Oshkosh by finishing 61st among the section's 431 runners with a time of 27:40. The Titans also had Kiernan Koepke place 66th with a time of 27:42 and Jacob Rost 87th in 27:55.
Led by Mac Doherty's second-place finish, Macalester College (Minn.) won the nine-team invitational division with 32 points. Illinois Tech finished second in the nine-team meet with 87 points and College of Lake County (Ill.) third with 103.
Jonathan Fernandez of Malcolm X College (Ill.) defeated 75 other runners to win the individual title with a time of 27:11. Doherty finished second with a time of 27:34 and Jack Kral of Concordia University Wisconsin third in 27:51.
Several runners in Saturday's meet will return to the Lake Breeze Golf Club as UW-Oshkosh hosts the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship on Nov. 18. The Lake Breeze Golf Club previously hosted the national event in 1999, 2011 and 2015.
UW-Oshkosh will host a four-team meet Friday (Oct. 19) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club.