The Gustavus men’s cross country team ran to an 11th place finish against its largest field of competitors of the season on Friday at the Blugold Invitational. The Gusties finished with 279 points and an average team time of 26:41. Mark Bartley (Blue Earth, Minn.) was the Gustavus’ top competitor at the meet, finishing 19th out 372 competitors with a time of 25:55.9. The Blugold Invite was held at the Whitetail Golf Course in Eau Claire, Wis.
UW-La Crosse won the Blugold Invite with 49 points, averaging 25:41 across the board. Fellow MIAC school St. Olaf finished second (25:47) with 79 points, while UW-Stout rounded out the top-three in third 25:58 with 102 points.
Alex Thornton (Byron, Minn.) was Gustavus’ next top finisher behind Bartley, crossing the finish line in 51st with a time of 26:35.6. Freshman Dillon Emo (Brookings, S.D.) ran in 65th with a time of 26:49.3. Rounding out Gustavus’ top-five was Anders Bowman (Plymouth, Minn.) and Adam Lund (Burnsville, Minn.) in 70th and 74th, respectively. Bowman crossed in 26:58.8 and Lund finished in 27:01.6.
Mark Bartley was the fifth fastest runner among MIAC competitors in the race. He placed behind St. Olaf’s Brian Saksa (2nd), Grant Wintheiser (6th) and Patrick Boland (17th), and Carleton’s Marcus Huderle (9th).
The Gustavus men’s cross country will be back on the course Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Dan Huston Meet held in Waverly, Iowa. Competition will begin at 11:30 a.m.