Men's Cross Country defeats defending NACC champs in season-opening dual

MEQUON, Wis. – Behind a 1-2 finish from Brennan Linse and Michael Taylor, the Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Cross Country team defeated MSOE in a season-opening dual meet at home Thursday. The Falcons scored 25 points compared to 32 for the Raiders, a team that won the NACC Championship last season.

The BASICS

- Location: Concordia University Wisconsin – Mequon, Wis.
- Results: CUW 25, MSOE 32

HOW IT HAPPENED

- Linse (Jefferson, Wis.) won the race with a time of 10:14. The race was two miles, which is how the Falcons like to begin their season before getting into the traditional 8K season.

- Taylor (Denmark, Wis.) was right behind Linse with a time of 10:15, providing a nice 1-2 punch for the Falcons.

- The first four runners for CUW finished within nine seconds of one another, setting up a nice pack in the early season race. The third CUW runner to cross the finish line was senior captain Stephen Bernau (Courtland, Minn.) at 10:19, while senior Adam Fell (Mundelein, Ill.) finished sixth at 10:23.

- The fifth runner to factor into the team score for the Falcons was sophomore Tanner Rutkowski (Wauwatosa, Wis.). He finished the race in a time of 10:38, good for 12th place.

NOTABLES

- Freshman Michael Wilcox cut off 36 seconds from his August time trial, a very solid improvement for the rookie. He finished the race in a time of 13:41, the same time as his twin brother, Matthew.

- The Falcons had 10 runners compete in the race on Thursday.

THE OPPOSITION

- The Raiders had two runners finish in the top five and also placed runners from 7th-11th. The difference for the Falcons was having four runners inside the top six.

UP NEXT

- The Falcons are off until next Saturday when they host the Ken Weidt Classic on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin. The men's race is set for 12 p.m., following the women's race which is at 11 a.m.