By Brendon Paucek, UWEC Sports Information
Northfield, Minn. (Blugolds.com) – On a cool and cloudy Saturday, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's cross country team picked up right where they left off last year, winning the St. Olaf Invitational.
The men all accounts ran by a perfectly executed race and displayed depth, running in packs for the first three miles and testing their fitness during the last two.
Leading the charge was Darin Lau (Jr. - Eau Claire, WI/Immanuel Lutheran), who led the majority of the 8,000m race and finished first in a time of 25:27.
"In the three years I've been here that's probably the best showing the team has had," Lau said. "Teams are probably watching us a little closer now."
Fellow Blugolds Patrick Treacy (So. - Fall Creek, WI/Memorial), Matt Cyra (Sr. - Eagle, WI/Mukwonago), and Nick Petersson (Sr. - Brookfield, WI/Central) worked together to finish in the top 10, placing sixth (25:52), seventh (25:54), and ninth (26:02) respectively; Treacy and Cyra opened their seasons with career PRs.
"I think this puts a little more confidence in us for the next couple races," Petersson said. "We proved that we still are a strong team this year despite losing some of our top guys from last year. We're ready to do big things."
Rounding out the Blugold's top five was Ryan Graham (Sr. - Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove), placing 17th (26:26), and following closely behind was Wyatt Elmer (Jr. - Mankato, MN/Loyola), who placed 21st (26:32) to earn top 25 honors.
Coach Dan Schwamberger was equally impressed as his athletes and likes the projection the team could take.
"This tells us both teams' goals are realistic," Schwamberger said. "We just got to keep being smart."
The Blugolds men runners will continue to train and prepare for their home meet, the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite, which is on Friday, September 30 at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, WI.
