MEQUON, Wis.
– Concordia University Wisconsin finished strong in
a deep and talented 21st Annual Falcon Invitational on Saturday
afternoon on its campus. The Falcon women finished in fifth place
and the men's team wound up sixth.
There were a record number of teams
and runners, and for the seventh straight year the course had to be
redesigned because of construction on campus. The new course
allowed runners to funnel evenly during the first mile and the
beautiful weather allowed for a large amount of spectators.
The annual event hosts some of the
top teams in the region and this year was no different having two
NCAA Division I teams, one NCAA Division II team, a NAIA program
and several community college teams, along with many NCAA Division
III programs.
Running her first collegiate race,
CUW's Larissa Schlitz (freshman, DeForest, Wis.) finished in 26th
place among all runners in the 6K event after running 24:48.7 and
19th in the NCAA Division III standings. Her teammate Samantha
Nelson (sophomore, Ypsilanti, Mich.) finished one place behind her
after crossing the line in 24:50.0. Several of the Falcons female
runners were faster - around a minute - than what they had in last
year's race.
On the men's side, sophomore Andrew
Coop (Mora, Minn.) led all Falcons with a 16th place finish
overall in the 8K race with a time of 27:09.1 (personal record)
among all runners and a 13th place finish in the NCAA Division III
standings.
Overall, the men's and women's
teams fared well considering the injuries runners are recovering
from and those who didn't run.
"There is optimism that when we are
at full strength we will as a team do much better," head coach Russ
DeLap said. "The end of the season is when running well counts and
the training design has been progressive, and not aggressive early
season. There were some excellent performances on both teams and I
am excited to see everybody get faster as the season
progresses."
CUW returns to action on Friday at
the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational hosted by Augustana College. The
men's race begins at 5 p.m., while the women's will start at 6 p.m.
at Saukie Golf Course.
CUW Women Results
Larissa Schlitz, 24:48.7 (PR)
Samantha Nelson, 24:50.0
Bethany Doerr, 24:51.2
Morgan Steffens, 25:09.1
Sarah Maynard, 27:03.6
Kelsey Wagner, 27:12.6
Ashley Lyons, 27:18.3
Sarah Volkert, 27:43.9
Haley Ring, 28:13.5
Holly Peterson, 28:26.4
Stephanie Kennett, 28:32.1
Jessica Rice, 28:32.2 (PR)
Jordyn Jurss, 28:32.8 (PR)
Ashley Birenbaum, 28:42.2 (PR)
Taylor Brown, 30:06.3
Beth Small, 34.29.1 (PR)
Kaytlin Kramer, 38:27.4 (PR)
CUW Men Results
Andrew Coop, 27:09.1 (PR)
Alex
Rosenau, 28:33.3 (PR)
Jordan
Guenther, 28:36.6
Josh
Tillman, 28:46.3 (PR)
TJ
Helgren, 29:19.3
Johann
Hinck, 29:20.0 (PR)
Robert
Meilbeck, 29:28.4
Daniel
McKee, 30:07.8 (PR)
Stephen
Bernau, 30:12.6 (PR)
Brendan
Pettis, 30:25.8 (PR)
Steven
Stiller, 34:06.1 (PR)
