Coach pleased with Men's CC win at Wartburg

October 13, 2003
The St. Thomas men's cross country team placed first of seven teams in the 5,000-meter race at Saturday's Wartburg Invitational.

Nate Coleman had an impressive race at the Dan Huston Invitational, hosted by Wartburg College, finishing in third place and leading the Tommies to the team championship in the short course event.
The Tommies bunched five runners within 24 seconds and scored 30 team points to top runner-up Wartburg (49). Carleton (56), Central (120), Gustavus (139), Luther (168) and Cornell (173) placed third through seventh.

For the Tommies, senior Nate Coleman was third out of 70 finishers in 12:28; freshman Will Hawthorne was fifth in 12:35; junior Brock Stepan was sixth in 12:35; soph Derek Harmon was seventh in 12:45; senior Sean Brenckman was ninth in 12:52; and senior Tristan Christ was 12th in 13:05.

Coleman moved from fourth place early in the race up to the second-place runner who narrowly defeated him in the last 30 meters of the race.

In the 8,000-meter race, host Wartburg placed first, edging Loras by five points. St. Thomas had three individuals in the 8,000 -- Jason Overson was 23rd (28:17), Jeff Goeden was 25th (28:25) and Ben Sanders was 67th (30:24).

The team with split up this weekend and compete in two very strong races. Coleman will be joined by teammates Hawthorne, Stepan, Harmon, Brenckman, Christ, and John Schwerkoske at the Leopard Cross Country Invitational hosted by Lafayette College (Easton, Pa.). It will be the group's second 8K race of the season after an impressive 8K opener on Sept. 20 at the St. Olaf Invite. The Leopard Invitational will include several Division I schools and also 13th-ranked Division III College of New Jersey.

"We have a great opportunity against some top competition this weekend," Coach Pete Wareham said. "Hopefully we can continue the momentum we have been building and use this race to prepare for the upcoming conference and regional meets. So far I am pleased with how the team has performed and excited to get back to the 8K race distance to see how we've come along as a team."

The remainder of the UST runners will compete at the Jim Drews Invitational, hosted by UW-LaCrosse. "This is one of the best small college meets in the nation and often includes a couple of Division I teams, as well" explained Wareham. "We are hoping for several runners in this race to step it up a bit and assist in strengthening our overall team. The competition will be very tough, but I think our guys are prepared to run well."

The Tommies are not scheduled to race the week of October 25 and will use that weekend to prepare for the Nov. 1 MIAC Championships at Como Golf Course in St. Paul. The women's race is at 2 p.m. and the men's race is at 3 p.m.

Probable lineups for October 18th

Leopard Invite (Easton, Pa.): Nate Coleman, Will Hawthorne, Brock Stepan, Derek Harmon, Sean Brenckman, Tristan Christ, John Schwerkoske

Jim Drews Invite (West Salem, Wis.): Corey Fusco, Bill Kretsch, Franz Klein, Jeff Goeden, Jason Overson, Colin Sullivan, Brian Hauge, Kaleb Stromberg, Ben Sanders

see link to complete results here