ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A year ago, the Yellowjacket men's cross country team put on a performance for the ages in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championships. The 'Jackets cruised to the conference title, taking the top four places and having five runners place in the top seven.
What will the Yellowjackets do for an encore? That answer is still weeks away, but Friday the Yellowjackets opened the 2024 campaign, competing at the Toni St. Pierre Invitational, hosted by Saint John's University at Boulder Ridge Golf Club.
The course was shorter than college runners are accustomed to, as the competitors ran five kilometers Friday instead of the customary eight kilometers, but it was still a good distance for the Yellowjackets to get a feel for where they stand early in the campaign.
On the day, the Yellowjackets placed fourth out of six teams, posting a team total of 96 points.
Zach Reese (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum) led the way for the Yellowjackets, placing 21st with a time of 16:02.7. The time established a new personal record for the distance in cross country.
All 15 Yellowjacket runners who competed Friday set a personal record at the five-kilometer distance.
Race Notes
- The second Yellowjacket across the line Friday was Aidan Doherty (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose), who finished with a time of 16:12.8, which was good for 26th place.
- Not far behind Doherty were Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern) and Dylan Uitto (Ashland, Wis./Ashland), who finished just 1.2 seconds apart. Johnson was 31st with a time of 16:19.2, while Uitto crossed the line with a time of 16:20.4, putting him 32nd.
- Rounding out the top five for the Yellowjackets was Ben Plackner (Bovey, Minn./Greenway), who was 33rd with a time of 16:29.1.
- Other Yellowjackets breaking the 18-minute mark Friday were Maverick Hoogland (Catawba, Wis./Phillips) (16:47.7), Jayde Canfield (Prescott, Wis./Prescott) (17:29.2), Cale Newby (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) (17:32.6), Tyler Smith (Ironwood, Mich./Ironwood) (17:47.1), Ben Addler (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County) (17:48.6) and Deryck Parduhn (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) (17:55.4).
- UW-Stout won the event, finishing with 24 points and having the race's top two finishers. The Blue Devils were 16 points clear of second-place Saint John's.
- Stout's Matthew Thomas was the individual champion, finishing with a time of 15:29.4, putting him just over a second ahead of teammate Casey Deboth, who clocked a time of 15:30.7.
The Yellowjackets are back in action Saturday, Sept. 21 when they travel to Northfield, Minn. to compete at the St. Olaf College Invitational. Race time is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the St. Olaf Cross Country Course.
