Dewitt Finishes Eighth At Notre Dame Invitational

John Dewitt (Sr. • Oshkosh) ran to an eighth-place finish to lead the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country team at the prestigious Notre Dame Invitational held Friday (Sept. 28) in South Bend, Ind.

Dewitt completed the five-mile course in a time of 24:57. He previously finished 33rd at the meet in 2011, 17th in 2010 and 63rd in 2009.

Matt Walters of the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada) won the race of 143 participants with a time of 24:28, while Cosmas Ayabei of the University of Missouri-Kansas City placed second in 24:31.

Daniel Kerley of North Central College (Ill.) took third place with a time of 24:40, Dan Kerr of Calvin College (Mich.) fourth in 24:40 and Virgilio Martinez of the University of Texas at Arlington fifth in 24:50.

UW-Oshkosh had four other runners place in the top 76 as Derek Johnsrud (Jr. • Fall River) finished 53rd with a time of 26:03, John Block (Jr. • Madison) 69th in 26:25, Kenny Halloran (So. • Mount Prospect, Ill.) 73rd in 26:30 and Mike Foust (Jr. • Oshkosh) 76th in 26:33.

The Titans also had Matt Champan (Jr. • Waukesha) finish 84th with a time of 26:39, Ryne Scopp (So. • Kenosha) 105th in 27:21, Jacob Clarke (Fr. • Racine) 107th in 27:28 and Matt Lawrence (So. • Plainfield, Ill.) 128th in 28:28. A total of 143 runners crossed the finish line.

In the team competition, UW-Oshkosh placed 11th among the 18 squads with 275 points. Defending NCAA Division III champion North Central College won the title with 54 points, while the University of Texas at Arlington finished second with 73, Calvin College third with 96, the University of Windsor fourth with 111 and the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) fifth with 145.

UW-Oshkosh travels to Appleton to compete at Gene Davis Invitational on Oct. 6.