WINNECONNE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - With an opportunity to make a huge statement against No. 1 North Central (Ill.), the third-ranked UW-Eau Claire men's cross country team saw firsthand it still has work to do to take down the Cardinals.
The Blugolds finished third with 140 points Saturday at the UW-Oshkosh AAE Invitational at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne. North Central won the meet with 36 points. Eau Claire finished ahead of NCAA Division II Augustana College (S.D.), a team ranked eighth in the latest Division II national poll.
As he's done all year, Josh Thorson (So.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) got out in the front of the race and held on for a top-5 finish. Saturday, he came in fifth place in a time of 24:44 over the course of 8,000 meters.
This time, his teammates closed the gap as the rest of the four scorers finished within a minute of Thorson.
Christian Leitner (Jr.-Red Wing, Minn.) came in 24th place in 24:59, and Ryan Mugan (Jr.-Howards Grove, Wis.) came in right behind him in 25th place and a time of 25:00.
Darin Lau (Fr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Immanuel Lutheran) closed in to form a pack with Leitner and Mugan as he crossed the line in 33rd place in a time of 25:10.
Erik Rosvold (Sr.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) was the last scoring runner as he came in 77th place in a time of 25:41.
Up next, some of the Blugolds will participate at the UW-Eau Claire City Wells Invitational next Friday at 4:45 p.m. The varsity runners will rest up before attempting to go after the first WIAC title since 1980 on Nov. 1 at the WIAC Championship, hosted by UW-La Crosse.
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