Men's Cross Country finishes fourth at Ken Weidt Classic
MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Cross Country team ran its first championship distance race of the season Saturday, placing fourth in its own Ken Weidt Classic. The 8K race was held on the campus of CUW.
THE BASICS
- Results: Falcons place fourth out of 13 teams which registered a team score.
- Location: Concordia University Wisconsin – Mequon, Wis.
FROM THE COACH
Falcons head coach Russ De Lap on his team's performance today: "Alex Rosenau had a monster race today, while Matthew Wilcox also ran a great race. Tanner Rutkowski and Tyler Neuwirth had very good races. Both our teams will learn from this meet and will come back with better determination and smarter racing."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior Alex Rosenau (Van Dyne, Wis.) pace the Falcons with a 27:44.8, also good for a 14th place finish. He was the fifth fastest NACC runner in the race as well.
- The Falcons are expected to run in a pack this season, and that they did on Saturday. The next six runners were all within a minute of Rosenau and the eighth Falcon was just 1:03 behind him.
- Sophomore Tanner Rutkowski (Wauwatosa, Wis.) posted a 27:547 and finished in 16th, while sophomore Brennan Linse (Jefferson, Wis.) also ran under 28 minutes, clocking in at 27:59.6. Rounding out the Falcons scoring lineup were junior Michael Taylor (Denmark, Wis.) at 28:12.7 and senior Adam Fell (Mundelein, Ill.) at 28:29.0.
- Also running under 29 minutes was the trio of sophomore Tyler Neuwirth (Mukwonago, Wis.) at 28:29.0, senior Stephen Bernau (Courtland, Minn.) at 28:39.6 and junior Zach Ziemann (Jackson, Wis.) at 28:47.0
ABOUT THE RACE
- UW-Stevens Point was dominant in winning the team title. All five of the Pointers scoring runners finished inside the top 12, allowing them to finish well ahead of runner-up MSOE.
- The Falcons were second among five NACC schools competing on Saturday. Only MSOE finished ahead of CUW.
- Lukas Johnson of UWSP won the individual title by running a 26:36.5.
NOTABLES
- De Lap mentioned freshman Matthew Wilcox, who was competing in his first collegiate 8K. Wilcox continues to show strong improvement and posted a time of 34:57.6.
UP NEXT
- The Falcons have a week off before running in the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, September 26. The meet is hosted by the University of Minnesota and the Falcons men will be running at 10:40 a.m.
