Posted September 27, 2008
The UW-Platteville cross country teams competed with the best in the country Saturday at the 23rd annual Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota.
The UWP men turned in a strong finish in the 31-team Division III race, grabbing fifth place. With five runners in the top 51 of the team scorers, the Pioneers scored 161 points. UW-La Crosse won the team title with 52 points, followed by Emory with 141, Ohio Northern 147, Hamline 156 and the Pioneers, who finished ahead of five other WIAC schools.
Sophomore Nathan Petesch continued his strong start to the season, taking sixth in 25:58 and ran in the top seven throughout the 8K race.
The Pioneer pack of sophomore Patrick Klein (33rd in 26:48), freshman Shane Lacy (35th, also in 26:48) and junior Tony Kilburg (36th in 26:50) were within two seconds of each other, while junior Josh Melby was 51st in 27:09.
The Pioneer women, ranked 19th in the country, were 11th of 36 team, with 281 points. UW-Eau Claire had 110 points to win the team championship.
Jessica Scott turned in the top Pioneer finish, placing sixth out of 497 runners. The senior covered the 6,000-meter course in 22:46. Sophomore Alli Tank was 25th in 23:43, while her freshman sister Ann was 41st in the team results with 23:57. Senior Emma Dreis took 78th in 24:31, while Trista Baye was 130th in 25:21.
The Pioneers will compete in UW-Eau Claire's Blugold Invitational Friday night in Colfax.
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