Margaret BauerThe Washington University cross country team capped off an impressive weekend with a third-place finish for the men’s team and a fourth-place finish for the women’s team at the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.
Juniors Greg Reindl and Brennan Bonner led the men’s team, finishing third and fourth respectively in the 8k race. Reindl completed the race in 25:18.35 with Bonner right behind him at 25:20.69. Freshman Jesse McDaniel was the next fastest Bear, finishing the race in 26:40.33 for 23rd place in the meet. Sophomore Kevin Gale was the Bears’ last entrant to finish in the top thirty; his time of 26:43.81 was good for 25th place. All four runners recorded their best times of the season in the event with Reindl posting the fastest time this season.
On the women’s side, senior Maggie Grabow again paced the Bears. She finished ninth in the 5k race with a time of 18:16.09. Grabow’s time was her fastest this season and the fastest recorded by any Bear this year. Bear sophomore Beth Herndon was 18th with a time of 18:37.60. No other Bears finished in the top thirty, but sophomore Lindsay Harkema, junior Steph Felz, freshman Tyler Mulkin and junior Andrea Moreland all finished between thirtieth and fortieth in the race. Herndon, Harkema, Felz, Mulkin and Moreland all posted their best times of the season in the event.
The meet was a challenging one for the Bears as they faced off against Division I opponents including Southern Illinois (the event’s host), University of Illinois, Indiana State and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Southern Illinois won the men’s competition with Indiana State in second place and the Bears in third. The women’s competition was won by the University of Illinois. Southern Illinois was the runner-up in that event and Indiana State was third.
The team will next compete in the Millikin Classic in Decatur, Illinois this Friday, Oct. 15, at 4:15pm. They will follow that meet with the University Athletic Association Championships in Rochester, New York on Saturday, Oct. 30.