WINNECONNE, Wis. - Webster University got season best times in the 8,000-meters from all 10 of their runners here Saturday as the Gorloks placed 21st out of 34 teams at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and held at the Lake Breeze Golf Club.
At the event, which featured 10 nationally-ranked teams, including three-time defending NCAA Division III National Champion North Central (Ill.) College, the Gorloks scored a total of 648 points to finish in 21st place overall. Webster was 14 points in front of 22nd-place Wisconsin-Stevens Point (662 points) and 46 points behind 20th-place Aurora (602 points).
North Central College, who is No. 1 in the latest USTFCCCA Division III poll, took home first place honors as the event as they put three runners inside the Top 10 and scored a total of 46 points to win the title by 31 points over runner-up Pomona-Pitzer, who had two runners in the Top 12 and scored a total of 79 points. Pomona-Pitzer is ranked ninth in the latest USTFCCCA poll.
Leading the way for the Gorloks on Saturday was junior
Nathan Freyling (Fenton, Mo./Fox) as he ran the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26:45.0 to place in 123rd overall place. Freyling's 8K time bettered his old personal best 8K time of 26:45.1 at last year's NCAA Midwest Regionals. His time was also a season best 8K time for the Gorloks this season.
Nick Matteucci of Washington University in St. Louis was the meet's overall winner as he ran the 8K course in a time of 24:43.1. North Central's Matthew Osmulski was second overall with a time of 24:50.3 and Wartburg's Joe Freiburger was third overall with a time of 24:54.1.
In additon to Freyling, freshman
Cameron Sakuma (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) was the next Gorlok finisher as he ran a personal best 8K time of 27:10.1 to finish in 158th place overall. Sakuma had been Webster's top finisher in their first three meets this season.
Sophomore
Javier Cervantes (Garden City, Kan./Garden City) was the next scoring runner for the Gorloks as he posted a season best 8K time of 27:47.2 to finish in 213th place, while sophomore
Eli Guzman (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) was the fourth scoring runner for WU as he ran a season best 8K time of 28:55.6 and the fifth scoring runner for the Gorloks was freshman
Kaelin Triggs (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) as he ran a personal best 8K time of 29:02.5 to place 307th overall.
The sixth and seventh runners for the Gorloks on Saturday were senior
Abram Donovan (Saint Paul, Minn./Highland Park) and freshman
Sam Baker (Memphis, Tenn./Saint Benedict at Auburndale), who ran 8K times of 29:12.7 and 29:19.2 to place 318th and 324th respectively. Donovan's time was a season best 8K performance, while Baker's time was a personal best in the 8K in his first-ever 8K collegiate meet.
Rounding out the finishers for the Gorloks were freshman
Gabriel Ayers (Bonne Terre, Mo./Saint Paul Lutheran), who ran a personal best 8K time of 30:13.9 to finish 367th, while freshman
Christian Gray (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) placed 399th with a personal best 8K time of 31:18.0 and senior
Paul Mueller (Red Bud, Ill./Red Bud) finished 413th overall with a season best 8K time of 32:12.2.
The Gorloks will now turn their attention to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, which this season is being hosted by Spalding University and is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
