Strong packs lead Chippewas to top 20 finishes
The Chippewas stayed tight as a group during Saturday’s Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota on Saturday to post top 20 team performances for the men’s and women’s teams.
The women’s team finished 14th, led by sophomore Kirsten Olling (22:37) and junior Megan Schubert (22:41). Olling and Schubert finished 40th and 45th overall in the women’s 6K race.
“I thought if we had a great race, we’d be somewhere between 14 and 17, and we were 14th,” said Head Coach Matt Kaczor.
In addition to the lead runners, the women were helped by the fifth scored runner for CMU, senior Breanne Lesnar (24:29) coming off a year long injury and finishing 142nd.
The men came in at 17th, led by seniors Nate Ghena (26:24) and Silas Dekalita (26:37) who came in 62nd and 83rd respectively. One minute separated the first and fifth runner for the Chippewas in the first scored 8K race of the year.
“On the guys side, it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for,” Kaczor said. “The spread was there, it just wasn’t far enough up.”
Freshmen Luke Anderson (27:11) and Mark Beckmann (27:15) also had solid outings, finishing fourth and fifth on the team and 115th and 119th overall.
“We are going to be pretty deep,” Kaczor said. “We are at least in a much better position than we were at this time last year.”
The Chippewas next race is Oct. 9 at the Oakland Invite in Rochester.
