ELSAH, Ill. (Blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire cross country team traveled to Principia College in Elsah, IL to participate in the Pre-National "Cow Bell Classic" this past Saturday, with the men taking 11th place and the women claiming 9th.
It was a warm and muggy day with the heat index climbing above the 90 degree mark by late morning, which led to the cancellation of the open men's and women's race that was scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. Fortunately, the Blugolds were able to race their top 12 men and top 12 women in the "Pre-National" races that were contested just before the temperature in combination with the humidity made conditions too dangerous to race.
Thirty eight teams toed the line in the men's 8K pre-national race, with seventeen of them ranked in the top 35 in the latest NCAA Division III National Poll. The Blugolds survived the hot and hilly course placing 11th overall as a team. Darin Lau (Sr. - Eau Claire, WI/Immanuel Lutheran)continued to lead the team placing 3rd of 354 competitors with a time of 24:45, just five seconds behind SUNY Geneseo's Isaac Garcia-Cassani, who won the race and is the top returning cross country runner from one year ago and the reigning track national champion in both the indoor mile and outdoor 1500m run. The heat kept the lead pack of over 20 runners bunched together until around the 6 kilometer mark. Lau closed his final two kilometers in five minutes and 58 seconds but it was not enough to hold off the incredible kick unleashed by Garcia-Cassani over the final 400 meters of the race. Lau was awarded the WIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week Award for his pre-national performance.
Patrick Treacy (Jr. – Fall Creek, WI/Memorial), the Blugolds number two finisher, ran a smart race passing through the four Kilometer mark in 95th place and moving all the way up to 52nd by the finish with a time of 26:07. Rounding out the top five for the Blugolds were: Anthony Dupont (Jr. – Mendota Heights, MN/Henry Sibley)– 98th place in 26:39, Brendon Paucek (Sr.-Sullivan, WI/Jefferson) – 101st in 26:40 and Dylan Lueck (So.-Germantown, WI/Wisconsin Lutheran) – 102nd in 26:40.
The women's 6K race had a total of 36 teams, with twelve of them ranked in the top 35 in the latest NCAA Division III National Poll. The Blugolds finished 9th overall scoring the same amount of points as the University of Chicago but losing on the tie breaker. The hilly course and hot conditions didn't seem to affect Samantha Slattery (So. – Waunakee, WI)who finished 13th of 332 competitors with a time of 21:56, which is 27 second 6K personal best. Slattery was awarded the WIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week Award for her impressive pre-national performance.
Callie Fischer (Oneida, WI/Ashwaubenon) continued to race smart as evident by her splits: 62nd at the two kilometer mark, 38th at the four kilometer mark, and 29th at the finish with a time of 22:43. Melody Becker (Sr. – Osseo, WI/Homeschooled) was the Blugolds number three runner placing 51st in 23:10. Junior Joanne Reiners(Jr. – Bristol, WI/Westosha Central) and freshmen Hannah Lamack (Fr. – Kewaunee, WI/Kewaunee) were the Blugolds fourth and fifth runners. They worked together throughout a majority of the race to place 67th and 75th respectively in 24:24 and 24:27.
The Blugolds are back in action on Friday competing at the UW-Eau Claire City Wells 5K Invite against UW-Stout with the men racing at 4 p.m. followed by the women at 4:45 p.m. The twelve men and twelve women who competed this past Saturday at Principia College will not race until next week's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Cross Country Championships hosted by UW-Whitewater on Saturday, October 28th.
