WINNECONNE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's cross country team went toe-to-toe with some of the top teams in its region and came in third place out of 37 teams with 133 points Saturday at the Brooks Invitational, hosted by UW-Oshkosh. North Central (Ill.) won the meet with 33 points while Washington (Mo.) finished second with 64.
As he has done all year, Ryan Mugan (So.-Howards Grove, Wis.) led the Blugolds while notching a top-10 finish. Mugan came in eighth place out of 566 competitors in a time of 24:49.65 over 8,000-meters, his first time breaking the 25-minute barrier.
Not far behind was Matt Scott (Sr.-Kiel, Wis.), who placed 18th in a time of 25:04.25, a personal best.
Nick Petersson (So.-Brookfield, Wis./Central) and Christian Leitner (So.-Red Wing, Minn.) finished right next to each other in 47th and 48th place, respectively. Petersson ran to a time of 25:34.06 while Leitner recorded a 25:36.12.
Matt Wenaas (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) rounded out the Blugolds' scoring five by placing 56th in a time of 25:39.48.
Some of the Blugolds will compete at the Lake Wissota Invitational next Friday at Lake Wissota State Park while the rest of the team rests up for the WIAC Championship, Nov. 2 at UW-River Falls.
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