Cross Country Opens 2018 Season at MSU Spartan Invitation

Cross Country Opens 2018 Season at MSU Spartan Invitation

Complete Results

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Tech cross country teams began their seasons at the MSU Spartan Invitational, hosted by Michigan State University at the Forest Akers East Golf Course. The women's team finished sixth with 214 points, and the men came in 12th with 351 points.

The top finisher for the Michigan Tech women was senior Liz Bloch, who placed 38th with a time of 23:11.1. Bloch, who represented the Huskies well at last season's GLIAC Championships and Midwest Regional Championships, will look to be an important runner for a Husky team filled with veteran runners.

"I'm really happy with how our women performed today," said head coach Jake Isaacson. "Just about all of them moved up throughout the race, and they all raced very intelligently in this heat."

Sophomore Katherine Schneider was the next Tech runner to score points for the Huskies, crossing the finish line at 23:37.9 to take 51st. Also scoring points for the Black and Gold were freshman Gabrielle Feber (70th, 24:06.0), redshirt senior Sophia Farquhar (74th, 24:09.0), and freshman Michelle Bollini (76th, 24:10.4).

On the men's side, the Huskies saw sophomore Braden Reichl top the list of Tech runners by finishing 62nd with a time of 26:49.1. Reichl was a strong runner for Michigan Tech in 2017, competing in every meet for the Huskies last season and is one of many young runners on the men's side.

"Braden was a bit under the weather, but still set the tone for the men," Isaacson said of his top male runner.

Freshman Clayton Sayen was the next MTU runner to finish with a time of 27:35.1, placing 92nd. Also scoring points for Michigan Tech were sophomore Logan Lukonic (114th, 28:08.7), freshman Ben Passolt (119th, 28:16.7), and sophomore Zach Werth (126th, 28:23.1).

The results were delayed due to the official results missing runners from various schools.

The Huskies will hit the trails again this week with meets in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The teams will compete at the Blugold Invitational, hosted by UW-Eau Claire, on Friday (Sept. 28). The Huskies will then travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to race in the Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota.