Cross Country Faces Strong Notre Dame Field

EIU men 14th, women 21st

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Eastern Illinois men’s and women’s cross country went head to head with a strong field on Friday afternoon competing at the Notre Dame Invite in the Gold Division.

The Panther men placed 14th in their race while the EIU women finished in 21st position. Eastern Illinois will return to action on Oct. 18 at the Evansville Invitational. Brad Butler was the top EIU men’s finisher for the third consecutive event as he covered the 8K course in 25:50 to place 35th. Derek Ericson placed 56th with a time of 26:11 while David Holm was EIU’s third top finisher in 81st position with a time of 26:30.

 The individual men’s title went to Dave Weston of Windsor College with a time of 24:50. North Central College won the men’s team title with 93 points. Grand Valley State was second with 104 points and UW Stevens Point third with 125. EIU was 14th with 363 points.

 On the women’s side Erin O’Grady was the top EIU women’s finisher for the second straight week with a time of 19:20 good for 105th place. Jessica Blondellrunning in her first event of the year was 122nd with a mark of 19:38 and Caitlin Napoleoni was EIU’s third finisher in 133rd position with a time of 19:53. Charleston’s Claire Dau placed 136th for the Panthers at 19:59.

 Michigan State won the women’s Gold Division with 76 points. Grand Valley State was second with 93 points and Northwestern was third with 136. EIU was 21st with 364 points. The individual title was won by Ayla Mitchell of UW Oshkosh with a time of 17:28.