From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis men's cross country program ran to a top-10 finish at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, with the majority of the competition consisting of Division I teams from throughout the country Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
The No. 2-ranked WashU men placed seventh of 26 teams competing. The Bears top-five runners averaged an 8K time of 25:05, totaling 183 points. The top-five programs on the men's side were Grand Valley (59 points, 24:23 pace), McMaster (115, 24:49), Nebraska (144, 24:50), Arizona (156, 24:52) and Texas A&M (161, 25:02). Division III's No. 10-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse finished sixth overall (169, 25:01).
Senior Brad Hodkinson and grad student David O'Gara dropped an abundance of time from their most recent race at the Gil Dodds Invite two weeks ago to lead WashU at Loyola this weekend. Hodkinson finished the 8K course in 24:41 to place 14th overall. O'Gara placed 20th with a time of 24:47. The duo were just two of four DIII athletes to finish in the top-25.
Junior Nick Matteucci finished 35th overall with the Bears third best time, 25:06. Senior Peter Johnsrud finished with the Bears fourth time, crossing the finish line in 25:23, while graduate student Kirby Simon (25:27) rounded out WashU's lineup. Johnsrud placed 54th and Simon 58th out of 349 competitors.
Joining the men in top-100 placements were seniors Chris Blagg (25:31), Chas Warden (25:32), sophomore Joe Stover (25:34) and senior Jack Sebok (25:35).
Top Seven
14. Brad Hodkinson – 24:41
20. David O'Gara – 24:47
35. Nick Matteucci – 25:06
54. Peter Johnsrud – 25:23
58. Kirby Simon – 25:27
61. Chris Blagg – 25:31
67. Chas Warden – 25:32