On Sept. 3, the men’s cross country team kicked off their season winning the Parkside’s Vic Godfrey Open at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The team grabbed a total of 23 points and placed nine Flyers in the top 20.
Sophomore Anthony Farmer and graduate student Dustin Macuiba finished first and second respectively, with 18:26.3 and 18:36.8 in the 6k (3.7mi) race. Graduate student Garett White placed fifth in 18:44.1, followed by senior Anthony Pena who came in sixth with 18:56.8.
Graduate student Zach Fresenko finished ninth with a 19:04.1, freshman Charlie Wirth came in tenth with a 19:07.4 and junior Daniel Arimi placed eleventh with 19:08.1. Sophomores Jacob Hinchley and Sean Ryan came in 14th and 16th with 19:20.3 and 19:24.1, respectively.
Last year, the Flyers won the GLVC title for the first time in 16 years, so the team is looking forward to doing their best to add another conference championship this season. “We definitely want to defend our conference title this year,” said Macuiba. “Last year was a big year but we still know it’ll be hard work to repeat this year!”
Due to COVID, the NCAA cancelled all national championships for fall sports in 2020, so the cross country season ended after the conference meet. Now, with nationals on schedule, Macuiba shared that racing and performing well there is the main team goal this season. “I just know our team can race very well and do better than many think we probably can,” said Macuiba.
Currently, the Flyers are building up on workouts and general strength as they still have over a month to get ready for conference championships. Macuiba explained that their team culture is what gets them through most tough practices and races. “Everyone on our team plays an important role in the success of the team regardless of their position or times and we all rely on the momentum and energy that we gather throughout the year,” said Macuiba. “So I want to just help add as much to that positive energy as possible in any way I can!”
The Flyers will be heading down to South Bend, Indiana on Sept. 17 to race at the National Catholic Championships hosted by the University of Notre Dame.
Photo Credit: Luis Chavez
