<e Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the Fellahs cemented their spot in the conference. In a race stacked with the talent-heavy University of Wisconsin system schools, the Knights finished ninth overall and third out of the MIAC schools competing.
The Knights trailed only St. Johns and the consistently good St. Olaf. Carleton bested three other conference teams; Gustavus Adolphus (11th), Augsburg (13th) and last year conference runner-ups St. Thomas (15th). A blazing-fast race by point man Marcus Huderle ‘14 (25:42) and a tight front pack helped the Carleton Harriers show the MIAC what they’re made of.
There were only 43 seconds separating Jacob Hoerger ‘14 (second) and Brian Spisiak ‘13 (seventh) in a chase pack that also featured Noah Laack-Veeder ‘15, Bobby Davis ‘13, Josh Campbell ‘13 and Kian Flynn ‘12.
Not content with letting the beginning of the team post the only impressive times, several Fellahs threw down personal best marks on Friday. Ben Levy ’15 flashed his toned hamstrings to the crowd en route to a time of 29:38 and was followed closely by Gustav Danielsson ’15 who also sneaked in under 30 minutes for the first time.
Phil Juda ‘13 used his height to keep track of Oliver Heywood ’15 as they both posted personal bests. Matthew Fitzgerald ’14 would have run with training partner Ryan Lawrence ’14 the whole race if Lawrence had not missed the bus. Without Ryan, Fitzgerald was forced to run out of his mind to a time of 28:22, which was 50 seconds faster than his first race this season.
Even in victory there are still lessons for the Fellahs to learn. Michael Tolan ’14, who hosts his own radio show “Tuesdays with Tolan” on KRLX, stated wisely after the race, “I was doing great until I started running backwards.” Although Tolan may have been literally “running backwards,” it is not uncommon for cross country aficionados to use this phrase to imply that a runner has slowed down so much relative to the field that it appears as if they are running backwards. This illusion usually occurs when a harrier goes out too hard. Ending on a positive note, Tolan added, “But hey, at least I beat Nick Evens.”
The Fellahs are off this weekend, but will race next Saturday back in the dairy state at the UW-LaCrosse Jim Drews Invitational.