Northfield, Minn. – After a 10th place finish in a field of 11 teams at the 2012 MIAC Championships, the Gustavus men’s cross country team bounced back to conclude its season with a tie for 15th place in a field of 27 teams at the NCAA Central Region Championships on Saturday afternoon. St. Olaf won the contest after accumulating 70 team points.
“The men had a much better performance today,” mentioned head coach Dale Bahr. “I was impressed because they came out with the attitude of wanting to perform well because they can, rather than because they have to. They were much more relaxed and ran stronger today.”
The Gusties were led by sophomore Dillon Emo (Brookings, S.D.) for the second consecutive race. Emo finished 60th in a time of 27:07.4. Following Emo were Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) and Leighton Becher (So., Woodbury, Minn.). Renier crossed the line in 27:23.0 for 74th, while Becher finished in 27:34.4 to place 85th.
“Dillon Emo, Joe Renier, and Leighton Becher all ran tough races today,” added Bahr. “You could see it in their eyes that they were determined to perform better. It was a good follow up to the conference meet.”
Coach Dale Bahr was pleased with how his team responded to a disappointing performance two weeks ago. “The guys bounced back,” he explained. “Any time you don’t perform the way you are capable it is easy to point fingers, but they did what they needed to do, they came back, and they performed like what they can do.”