Sept. 12, 2008
Sept. 12, 2008
IOWA CITY, IA – Despite a heavy rain, the Hawkeye men’s and women’s teams came out to race the Iowa Invite at Ashton Cross Country Course. The women ran a 3,000 meter race and the men ran a 6,000 meter race. Northern Iowa also participated in the invite.
Junior Krista Anderson (3rd, 10:50.38) was the top Hawkeye finisher with the other women finishing with five of the top 10 times. Other notable finishers were junior Fionna Fallon (6th, 11:07.89), junior Jennifer Docherty (8th, 11:17.79) and senior Rachel Hawks (9th, 11:22.26). Coach Layne Anderson said that he was looking to give these competitors more experience under their belts and it was a race for them to prove themselves at the competitive level. Overall, Anderson wished the team could have done a little bit more to try and break the UNI pack and said that the fatigue from a hard week of practice seemed to take its toll.
The men came out and decidedly claimed the top seven times overall. Sophomore Bruce MacTaggart (1st, 19:27.27), sophomore Mark Battista (2nd, 19:28.36) and junior Tommy Tate (3rd, 19:43.75) rounded out a Hawkeye sweep of the top three finishers for a group that is relatively unproven. Coach Larry Wieczorek set out to prove that his team has good depth and show what these runners could do. He felt that he accomplished this goal and hopes that these athletes will be able to help the top runners on the team farther along in the season. Specifically, Wieczorek thinks that this race can be a confidence booster for Bruce MacTaggart and Mark Battista, two athletes he hopes to see more of in the coming months.
The women Hawkeye runners next meet will be on Saturday September 27th at the Lakefront Invite in Chicago, IL. The men will either join them or will participate in the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, MN.