RIVER FALLS, Wis. – One week after defeating its alumni for the first time in six years, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s cross country team kept the momentum flowing, earning a first place finish with 62 points at the Falcon Invitational on Friday afternoon.
“This is an exciting win for our team,” said Coach Dale Bahr. “It’s a great start to the season, and although I’m fond of the ‘element of surprise’ by running well at the end of the season, I’m very happy that our team is running so strongly to begin the year.”
Senior Paul Nordquist (Edina, Minn.) led Gustavus with a second place finish, crossing the finish line in 25:29.66. Evan Jones (Jr., Pella, Iowa) was next in sixth place with a 25:40.44, and Thomas Knobbe (Jr., Decorah, Iowa) followed in eighth with a 25:47.41.
Marcus Speca (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) (26:46.83) and Carston Dammann (So., Lake City, Minn.) (26:54.43) rounded out the Gustie scoring, coming in 24th and 32nd, respectively.
The University of Wisconsin Stout placed second with 68 points, while host University of Wisconsin-River Falls took third with 85.
“I’m super proud of our guys,” said Bahr. “They came out to run as a team…not one person was running as an individual out there. That’s one of the things we try to focus on is running for the team and we definitely did that today.”