<r 14 Carls, a crisp autumn day, beautiful fall colors, the promise of a good race, and the opportunity to miss classes after 3a led to an interstate journey to Whitetail Golf Course near Colfax, Wisconsin for a Friday afternoon race at UW-Eau Claire’s Blugold Open.
After complaining about how this course was not designed for him due to the hill he would have to climb in the first 600 meters of the race, Marcus Huderle ‘14 quickly proved himself a hypocrite, albeit a very fast one, by crossing the line first for the Knights in a time of 26:23. That time was good enough for a 30th place finish and forgiveness, but not quite fast enough to win a meet t-shirt.
Fellow Eden Prairie alum Bobby Davis ’13 followed closely, finishing in 26:28. Third place for the Knights belonged to the newly clean-shaven (and almost unrecognizable) Josh Campbell ‘13, who powered through the final quarter of the race to finish in 27:16. Onlookers screamed as Aaron Hirsh ’13 and Colin Sinclair ‘11 engaged in a pitched battle along the final 600 meters downhill to the finish until Hirsh knocked Sinclair out with a vicious kick to the left. They staggered across the line in 27:20 and 27:21 respectively to help the Knights place 9th.
Every Carl who ran established a new season best and many set new personal bests thanks to strong races and a favorable course. Ryan Lawrence ’14 ran 28:46 to narrowly defeat sleep deprived Math/Physics major Michael Knudson ’11, who ran 28:47 to break 29 minutes for the first time. Matthew Fitzgerald ’14 and Cooper Dodds ’13 soon followed in 29:09 and 29:12. At 29:57, Michael Tolan ’14 crossed the line in time to beat the Domino’s guarantee, while Phil Juda ’13 completed his first collegiate 8k race in 32:42.
Despite boasting a rather unimaginative nickname, the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds protected their home turf, or in this case their home bent grass fairways, surprising perennial power UW-La Crosse to pull out a 47-58 victory. Junior Ben Sathre of the also rather uninspiringly nicknamed St. Thomas Tommies took top individual honors in a brisk 25:15 to represent the MIAC.
Last week also marked another important event for the Fellahs. One month out from the MIAC Championships, team poet laureate and Classical orator John Davis ’11 addressed the team in a toga from on top of a crowded dinner table, thus beginning the traditional month of beardaj in which Fellahs must not shave. Thus, a hairier group of harriers will be on display as October rolls along.
The Knights will be back in action over midterm break as the team splits up to run at two meets. Half the team will compete at Crown College in Minnesota, while the other half travels to Oregon to race at the Pioneer Invitational hosted by Lewis and Clark College, and possibly sample the exotic and mythical Oregon Coast Chowder.
-Colin Sinclair is a member of the men’s cross country team.