UW-La Crosse Claims Men’s Cross Country Championship; UW-Eau Claire’s Lau Wins Individual Title
WHITEWATER, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse secured the 2017 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men’s Cross Country Championship (Presented by Culver’s) at the UW-Whitewater Cross Country Trails on Oct. 28.
The league title for the Eagles is the 33rd in program history and first since 2013. UW-La Crosse earned the first-place finish with 35 points to exceed UW-Stout’s second-place total of 64 points. Three-time defending champion UW-Eau Claire was third with 81 points, UW-Platteville fourth with 113, UW-Whitewater fifth with 129, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 133, UW-Oshkosh seventh with 165 and UW-River Falls eighth with 260.
UW-Eau Claire’s Darin Lau secured the individual title, completing the 8,000-meter course in 24:37.4. He is the fourth runner in program history to post a first-place finish at the WIAC championship, joining Dan Stack (1980 and 1981), Jason Finch (1998) and Josh Thorson (2014). A total of 92 runners completed this year’s race.
UW-La Crosse’s Thomas Schultz finished second with a time of 25:05.7, while teammate Josh Schraeder was third in 25:08.3, UW-Platteville’s Zach Lee fourth in 25:09.9, UW-Platteville’s Walker Rynes fifth in 25:10.2, UW-Stout’s Alex Ilyushev sixth in 25:11.1 and UW-Whitewater’s Brett Harms seventh in 25:15.5.
UW-Stout’s Tyler Ellefson took eighth in 25:30.0, and was followed by a quartet of UW-La Crosse runners – Tyler Nault ninth in 25:31.9, Ian Ewers 10th in 25:36.3, Sam Hinz 11th in 25:36.6 and Matt Bourland 12th in 25:38.8, UW-Stevens Point’s Alex Egbert 13th in 25:40.8 and UW-Eau Claire’s Riley Huffman 14th in 25:42.7.
UW-Stout’s Dan Ressler placed 15th in 25:43.7, UW-La Crosse’s Jonah Weisse 16th in 25:46.0, UW-Stout’s Joe Van Grinsven 17th in 25:46.9, UW-Stout’s Nick Zolondek 18th in 25:47.9, UW-Oshkosh’s Michael Juarez 19th in 25:50.6 and UW-Stevens Point’s Matt Stelmasek 20th in 25:53.0.
The top seven runners received All-WIAC first team recognition, while runners placing eight through 14 earned All-WIAC second team accolades. Individuals finishing 15 through 20 claimed honorable mention laurels.
UW-Eau Claire’s Darin Lau received the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award.
An All-Sportsmanship Team was chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. It included one member from each school. Named to the squad were: UW-Eau Claire’s Riley Huffman; UW-La Crosse’s Josh Schraeder; UW-Oshkosh’s Dan Massey; UW-Platteville’s Walker Rynes; UW-River Falls’ Braydon Johnson; UW-Stevens Point’s Daniel Sikora; UW-Stout’s David Rosenlund; and UW-Whitewater’s Braeden Michael.
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