Thomas Knobbe led the Gusties with a second place finish.
ST. BONAFACIOUS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s cross country teams both placed second at the Crown Invite on the campus of Crown College Saturday. Thomas Knobbe (Sr., Decorah, Iowa) led the Gusties, turning in a time of 26:46.4 to place second individually.
“Thomas is a talented kid. He loves to go out and compete. He likes to be the underdog and takes pride in people not expecting him to be where he is. We’ll see him battling up front in all the races this year,” Head Coach Dale Bahr spoke about Knobbe.
The men’s team score of 45 left them 14 points behind the University of Minnesota Duluth for first place (31). Evan Jones (Sr., Pella, Iowa), Carston Dammann (Sr., Lake City, Minn.) and Alex Wischnack (So., Norwood Young America, Minn.) also finished in the top-ten for the Gusties.
“Our returners did what they needed to do, what they were expected to do,” said Bahr. “When they go out and perform like they did today, it shows us that they are definitely experienced. Everybody ran hard today and we saw some good races front to back. The great thing with this team is that everyone on the team believes they can be in the top-two of the conference. They not only talk about it but they believe in it and that’s the key for success.”
The women also recorded a second place finish with a team score of 48 points. Head Coach Dale Bahr is hoping for improvement with a young and inexperienced Gustie women’s squad.
Lotus Schifsky (So. Prescott, Wis.) owned the top finish for the Black and Gold with a time of 26:00.1, good for fifth place.
“I thought our first-years raced well. It was fun to see them get out there and race hard,” Bahr said. “I don’t think our returners put it all together today and for whatever reason we did not race well. Hopefully we can put together a good couple weeks of practice.”
Next weekend is the Gustie Invite/Alumni Meet in St. Peter, Minn. The meet is scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. start Saturday, September 10.