ST. PETER, Minn. – For the first time since 2009, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s cross country team was able to hold off its alum, as it earned championship honors with a score of 22, 14 points lower than the 36 earned by the Gustavus Alumni Team. Bethany Lutheran College rounded out the meet’s scoring with 85 points.
Paul Nordquist (Sr., Edina, Minn.) was the meet’s individual champion by finishing the 5k race in 16:28.3, just ahead of Nick Ross ’11 who finished in 16:31.8. Thomas Knobbe (Jr., Decorah, Iowa), Evan Jones (Jr., Pella, Iowa), Carston Dammann (Jr., Lake City, Minn.) and Marcus Speca (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) were the current Gusties who finished behind Nordquist to factor into the scoring.
“It was nice to see us finally get over that hump and beat our alumni,” said Coach Dale Bahr. “I think it means our veteran runners are stepping up to the charge and taking on the leadership role that we want them to. We’ve got a great mix of veterans and younger guys, and most of them have had a year in the program and they’re stepping up and showing they can be counted on.”
“Our team is looking as strong as it has in the past decade,” said Nordquist. “We’re pretty excited to try and work our way into that top four in the conference. We’re confident going into this season and feel that we’re very strong.”
The Gustavus cross country teams will be in action next Saturday when they travel to River Falls, Wis. to take part in the UW-River Falls Invitational.