By Brendon Paucek, UWEC Sports Information
Louisville, Kentucky (Blugolds.com) – Although the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's cross country team was around 600 miles away from home this weekend, they felt right at home in uncharacteristically cold and breezy Kentucky weather.
For the second consecutive year, the Blugold men took home a trophy at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. The men earned third place, and had three individuals receive All-American Honors. North Central (Ill.) won the national title with 60 points, SUNY Geneseo was second with 204 points, and Washington University from St. Louis placed fourth with 216 points.
Coach Dan Schwamberger was both pleased and proud of their performance and hard work.
"They ran very smart races and finished very well, especially Nick and Patrick," said Schwamberger.
Earning his third All-American finish in as many seasons was Darin Lau (Jr. - Eau Claire, WI/Immanuel Lutheran), who finished sixth overall. He completed the 8,000m course in a time of 24:22.
Nick Petersson (Sr. - Brookfield, WI/Central) and Patrick Treacy (So. - Eau Claire, WI/Memorial) also finished with All-American honors. Petersson finished in 31st place (24:52), and Treacy passed several runners in the last 400m to place 34th (24:54).
Riley Huffman (Jr. - Oshkosh, WI/North) and Matt Cyra (Sr. - Mukwonago, WI/Mukwonago) also ran smart races, finishing 116th (25:29) and 124th (25:31), respectively.
Rounding out the Blugold's top seven were Sam Kuhlmann (So. – Shorewood, WI/Shorewood) and Ryan Graham (Sr. - Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove). Kuhlmann placed 146th (25:42), and Graham was 213th (26:17)
For Peterson, Cyra, and Graham, it was their last cross country race as Blugolds. Bringing home, the program's second NCAA trophy was a perfect way to finish their careers.
The men's cross country team will take a well a brief but well-deserved break from training before preparing for the indoor track & field season.
