Titans Place Fifth At Brooks Invitational

Led by four runners who placed in the top 22 listings, the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country team finished fifth at the Brooks Invitational held Saturday (Oct. 15) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

Defending NCAA Division III champion North Central College (Ill.) won the 47-team meet with 49 points, while host UW-Oshkosh placed fifth with 158. The Cardinals and the Titans were the only squads to have four runners finish in the top 22 of the individual competition.

Rounding out the top five teams were second-place Washington University (Mo.) with 137 points, third-place Wheaton College (Ill.) with 154 and fourth-place Calvin College (Mich.) with 156.

Other teams in the top 10 were sixth-place University of Chicago (Ill.) with 231 points, seventh-place Massachusetts Institute of Technology with 240, eighth-place New York University with 246, ninth-place UW-Platteville with 251 and 10th-place Augustana College (Ill.) with 278.

North Central College entered the meet as the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, while Calvin College was ranked third, Washington University fifth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology seventh, UW-Oshkosh eighth, Augustana College 12th and New York University 13th. All seven of those teams are expected to return to the Lake Breeze Golf Club on Nov. 19 when UW-Oshkosh hosts the NCAA Division II Championship.

UW-Oshkosh accumulated its team score on the finishes of Nate Stymiest (Sr. • Oconto Falls), Tyler Morey (Sr. • Combined Locks), Sean Kutz (So. • Grantsburg), John Dewitt (Jr. • Oshkosh) and Erik Hofferber (So. • Neenah). Stymiest placed 15th in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:28.61, while Morey finished 17th in 25:31.13, Kutz 20th in 25:34.05, Dewitt 22nd in 25:35.82 and Hofferber 87th in 26:23.90.

Tim Nelson of UW-Stout captured the individual title with a time of 24:45.85, while Michael Burnstein of Washington University finished second in 24:59.06 and Matt Vander Roest of Calvin College third in 25:04.43.

UW-Oshkosh also had Zach Adams (Jr. • Lake Geneva) finish 104th in 26:32.67, Jake Keehan (Sr. • Green Bay) 138th in 26:49.86, Derek Johnsrud (So. • Fall River) 159th in 26:59.17, Brian Peterson (Jr. • Toluca, Ill.) 182nd in 27:09.93, Jordan Carpenter (Fr. • Ashwaubenon) 187th in 27:13.01, Nick Newcomer (Sr. • Winnebago, Ill.) 216th in 27:22.76, Steve Stasek (Fr. • Stanley) 233rd in 27:28.90, John Block (So. • Madison) 244th in 27:37.81, Matt Champan (So. • Waukesha) 269th in 27:56.55 and Mark Allen (So. • Port Washington) 284th in 28:05.49. A total of 434 runners completed the race.

UW-Oshkosh will host a dual meet with UW-Stevens Point on Friday (Oct. 21) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club.