Men's Cross Country Finishes Fourth, Women's Sixth, at Brooks Invitational

MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

Winneconne, Wis., October 16, 2010 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s cross country squads ran to fourth and sixth-place finishes respectively at the ultra-competitive University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis.

Traditionally one of the toughest regular season meets of the year for Washington University, this year’s Brooks Invitational was no exception, with a field of nearly 40 teams comprising each race, with nine top-25 teams running in the men’s field and 10 ranked team’s on the women’s side.

In addition to competing against some of the best teams in the nation, the Bears had the added bonus of getting a chance to size up against two of their top competitors from the University Athletic Association (UAA) with the conference championship looming two weeks from now in New York, N.Y.

Top-ranked and defending NCAA Division III national champion North Central College won the men’s race with a team score of 49 points. No. 8 Calvin College (78 points), No. 9 New York University (138 points), No. 2 Washington U. (146 points) and No. 7 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (150 points) rounded out the top five finishers in the men’s 8K.

The University of Minnesota-Duluth, the No. 7 team in NCAA Division II, captured the team crown in the women’s 6K. Seventh-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh (116 points) and No. 15 University of Chicago (116 points) tied for second place, with No. 10 Calvin College (117 points) and No. 13 Hope College (142 points) rounding out the top five. The Bears finished just four points behind Hope in the No. 6 position.

Junior Michael Burnstein paced the WUSTL men’s team by finishing in second place overall with a time of 24:40, just 17 seconds off the first-place mark of 24:23, set by Michael Spain from North Central.

Sophomore David Hamm finished 24th overall with a time of 25:12, senior Dave Spandorfer came in 31st in 25:22, senior Alden Black placed 37th with a time of 25:20, and senior Erik Hinrichsen posted a time of 25:36 to take 52nd.

Junior Liz Phillips was the first to cross the finish line for the Washington U. women’s team, earning a top-10 finish by placing ninth overall with a time of 22:01. Senior Jessica Londeree came in 13th, just 13 seconds behind Phillips, junior Molly Wawrzyniak came in 42nd with a time of 22:51, senior Taryn Surtees placed 44th in 22:59, and freshman Sarah Fisher rounded out the team’s scorers with a 60th-place finish and a time of 23:06.

The Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action on Friday, Oct. 22, when they compete at the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Invitational in Edwardsville, Ill., the team’s final warm-up before the 2010 UAA Championships. Race-time for the SIU-Edwardsville meet is set for 4 p.m.