The Bruin men's cross country team had a very solid showing at Nebraska's largest collegiate cross country meet on Saturday in Lincoln. Hosted by both the University of Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan, the Greeno/Dirksen Invite featured two dozen teams from all NCAA divisions, the NAIA, in addition to several NJCAA powerhouses. While all runners compete in a single race, for scoring purposes the NCAA Division I teams are separated into the Red Division while the remaining teams make up the Gold Division.
The Bruin men finished in 12th place among 17 Gold division teams. The Gold division was won by past NJCAA champion Iowa Central CC with three men in the top six while Wichita State won the Red Division handily over runner-up Air Force.
Individually, Senior Chris Casart paced the Bruins with an 8 kilometer lifetime best of 27:00.8 as he finished 92nd among 215 finishers. He was sixth among NAIA entrants. Freshman Anthony Peyton was 103rd in 27:23.0, followed by fellow freshman Kaleb Wooten in 28:27.6 placing 135th. Freshman Sam McIntyre was the fourth scorer for the Bruins running 29:42.1, good for 167th, with Aaron Newton rounding out the scoring just eight seconds back in 171st and 29:50.3. Cole Wagner was the final Bruin finisher running 30:32.7 in 180th.
Coach Craig Christians: "It was really fun to be able to line up next to Division I runners and I think being in that strong field brought out the best in our guys. Chris demonstrated the strength he's gained by running nearly a thousand miles this summer and I'm happy to see all the hard work rewarded. It's kind of cruel to have the freshmen run their first eight-kilometer race in a field like this but they handled it like veterans. I was very proud of their races. From our first guy to our last, I was very happy with the effort today and I think this is a peek into what this team can accomplish."
The Bruins return to action next Friday, September 24, when they travel to Wayne for the Wildcat Classic.
