Joe Kehoe (left) and Cameron Cullen (right) were the fifth- and second-fastest Titan runners at the Blugold Invitational

Titans Finish Eighth at Blugold Invitational

COLFAX, Wis.- Paul Proteau once again led the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country team, finishing eighth at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Friday (Sept. 29).

Proteau (So. • Riverside, Ill.) ran the 8,000-meter course in 25:10 and broke his career-best time that he set last week by four seconds.

Cameron Cullen (So. • Kewaunee) took 53rd in 26:14, Joe Freng (So. • Sun Prairie) took 56th in 26:16, Jake Krause (Jr. • Hortonville) took 67th in 26:28 and Joe Kehoe (Sr. • Sun Prairie) took 71st in 26:32 to round out Oshkosh's point scorers.

Christian Patzka from UW-Whitewater won the individual varsity title, running the 8,000-meter course in 24:31. Will Kelly (24:38) from St. Olaf College (Minn.) and Mohammed Bati (24:45) from Augsburg University (Minn.) took second and third.

UW-Oshkosh placed eighth in the 30 team varsity meet, with 235 points. The average pace was 26:09 among its five runners that placed.

UW-Whitewater earned the team title with 28 points, followed by St. Olaf with 57 points and UW-La Crosse with 141.

The Titans also finished eighth in the open meet, scoring 209 points. Jason Skinkis (Fr. • Seymour) led the team with a 37th place finish in 27:56. Evan Peterson (Fr. • Gillett) took 42nd in 27:59, Lucas Nicholson (Fr. • Pewaukee) took 49th in 28:07, Zach Dietsch (Fr. • Two Rivers) took 71st in 28:34 and Zach Nelson (Jr. • Mount Horeb) took 79th in 28:45.

The Titans will return to action on Friday, Oct. 7 for the Lawrence University Gene Davis Invitational. The men's race will begin at noon, following the women's race that is set to start at 11 a.m.