The Yellowjacket men's cross country team was back in action after a two-week hiatus, competing at the Running of the Cows, hosted by Carleton College Saturday.
With 169 points the Yellowjackets placed eighth Saturday, just behind Gustavus Adolphus College for seventh place. The Running of the Cows was won by Carthage College, whose team combined for just 66 points in the winning effort.
"Our guys did a really good job on the course today. It was exciting to watch a lot of our freshmen earn personal records for the eight kilometer distance. They beat their previous bests by some really big margins," said Yellowjacket Head Coach
Glen Drexler. "That being said we're just not there yet. Part of that is because of the injuries. We're not at full strength yet and we're looking forward to seeing our full team compete against some of these same opponents when they're fully healthy."
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets, as has been the case for most of the 2017 season was
Evan Walpole (Superior, Wis./Superior). The Superior native earned himself a top-ten finish, placing tenth with a time of 26:27.6.
"Evan ran a really good race today. He was very solid," Drexler said. "He did some very good, very smart things out on the course today. He still has a lot left in the tank and I think he is only going to keep getting better as the year goes on."
Rand Bieri (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet) was the second finisher for the Yellowjackets, coming in just behind Walpole with a time of 26:59.8.
Alex Binfet (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity),
Sam Smith (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH), and Zach Mazurek finished just behind Bieri, and all three broke the 28-minute mark for the race.
"We had runners finish the day with best in the 8 kilometer, and we had a number of runners finish with course bests, too, and that's an important thing," Drexler said. "We'll be back here in a few weeks for the NCAA Central Regional and we want our people to keep improving so the next time we're on this course we have a better finish."
Up Next: The Yellowjackets will compete at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational Saturday, October 14.
