Contact: Devery Hodge, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
Oct. 14th, 2023 Rock Island, Il – The No. 1 ranked Cardinals made a statement in the Augastana Interregional Invitational as they won a very highly anticipated meet. The course was very muddy and soggy, but the Cardinals persevered.
The first Cardinal to cross the line in the Varsity race was Max Svienty in fourth running a time of 24:32.2 to lead the Cardinal charge. Connor Riss followed close behind running a time of 24:39.3 for a sixth place finish. The other Cardinal scorers were Drew Guimond who finished 13th (24:52.9), BJ Sorg finishing 15th (24:55.4), as well as Braden Nicholson finishing 22nd (25:01.2). The spread for the top five finishers is 29 seconds as they begin to sharpen for conference and nationals.
The Cardinals also won the open race as well. Jonathan Olenek finished second in the race with a time of 26:02.5. Ishaan Patel would finish close behind in third with a time of 26:08.4. Other scoring Cardinals include Clark Kelly in fourth (26:14.8), Austin Emrath in ninth (26:25.6), Jacob Everix finishing in 17th (26:37.4).
Coach Matt Sinnott on the performances this weekend, "We threw times out the window when we saw what kind of conditions the course was going to be in. This race reinforces the work our men are doing regarding mental toughness and overcoming adversity: two things we will certainly need going into the National Championships in 5 weeks."
The Cardinals in the varsity race scored 60 to win the meet. The rest of the top five is University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in second with 90 points, Wartburg College in third with 97 points, Washington University (St. Louis) in fourth with 210 points, Calvin University in fifth with 230 points.
In the open race the Cardinals would win, scoring 29 points. The rest of the top five is Washington University (St. Louis) in second scoring 79 points, Wartburg College in third scoring 106 points, Wisconsin-Whitewater in fourth with 129 points, and in fifth University Wisconsin-Stevens Point with 166 points.
The Cardinals will take a week off as they prepare for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet on Oct. 28th.
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