<bby Davis ‘13 came all the way to La Crosse, Wisconsin ready to race and Ryan Lawrence ‘14 made the bus. The two fired off an opening salvo that put them in the thick of the pack at the Jim Drews Invitational Saturday morning and then finished with punishing kicks that left the competition dazed.
Davis finished 69th in the scoring at second place for the Knights, helping them lock up 19th place out of 25 teams.
Lawrence made the trek in the dark morning hours to the Rec Center, catching the van to Wisconsin and taking his foes for the ride of their life to finish in 28:34. He was eighth on the team and ran an impressive “negative split,” meaning the second half of his race was faster than the first. This is a rarity in cross-country races where competitors often start off too fast.
The Fellahs did place ahead of the Scots (21st) and other MIAC nemesis Augsburg (22nd). For the first time this season, your favorite harriers finished just behind Gustavus Adolphus (17th) and Saint Mary’s (18th).
Carleton scored 490 points, putting them just 45 back from the Gustavus Royals (455) the Saint Mary’s Cardinals (456). The Fellahs will need to race their best in the upcoming conference meet at Como Park to best these teams.
Senior Kian Flynn was confident about the Knights chances in the MIAC finals. “I’ve never seen a team this good looking in my four years here,” he said. His classmate Evan Johnson (‘12) will be making his reappearance at Como after several weeks off due to injury. Johnson says his is ready to go and feeling 100%.
The Fellahs have one last step of preparation before the post season, the intrasquad time trial today in the lower arb. The team is split into three warring factions that will test their mettle on a 5-kilometer course.
Feel free to head to the lower arb and cheer for your favorite runners. Rumor is Ben Levy will be there showing off his fantastic hamstrings.