The Concordia University cross country team had an outstanding weekend competing in the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Bulldog men finished fifth overall and just 35 points behind the winner of the men, Drury College. The Bulldogs finished just behind Minnesota State Mankato, a team reanked 6th in NCAA Division II, and finished better Black Hills State, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA.
Luka Thor was the top finisher for the Bulldogs, coming in fifth place overall with a time of 25:34 while Zach Meineke finished 10th overall with a time of 25:53. All the Bulldogs' top four runners finished in the top 50 as David Goeglein came in 24th and Jordan Tucker came in 46th.
"Jordan had a much better race to finish as our number four runner," said head coach Dr. Kregg Einspahr. "This was an outstanding competition with many ranked NAIA and NCAA Div. II teams in the field. The weather and course conditions couldn't have been better."
The Concordia women finished the race in seventh place overall as the Bulldogs finished just behind NAIA nationally ranked No. 8 Black Hills State and just in front of No. 12 Indiana Wesleyan.
The top individual finisher for the Bulldogs was Alicia Marteney with a time of 23:49, good enough for 24th place overall. Taylor Felix finished just behind Marteney in 29th place with a time of 24:02 while Katie Swanson earned a 35th place finish.
"We have shown that we have excellent depth," continued Einspahr. "We have had different runners finish in different positions in these first two meets. It's nice to know that we have different runners capable of stepping into different roles on any given day."
The Bulldogs will take the next weekend off to prepare for the Briar Cliff Invite on Saturday, Oct. 11, in Sioux City, Iowa.