WEST ALLIS, WI. – Principia Cross-Country headed to Greenfield Park on Saturday, October 5, 2013 for the Wisconsin Lutheran Warrior Invitational and found a bigger meet than usual. In past years, the average number of teams present was twelve but this year thirty teams came to compete. This course tends to be a favorite of runners on the team because it winds through a beautiful, green park and through wooded areas with dirt trails.Â
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The gun went off at 11:00AM for the start of the women's 6-kilometer race. Principia's women worked their way up a gradual incline to the first loop of the race. The women, only having six runners, needed to keep the gaps between each other small. For the first mile they were all almost between two minutes of each other. Principia's women continued to keep running strong but spread out a bit more by the third mile. By that point they only had about a 1200 to go. Junior
Sarah Litwiller came in first for the team in sixth place with a time of 23:45.6.Â
Emily Osborne, a senior, was next finishing fifteenth with a time of 24:45.9.Â
Shontee Pant, sophomore, was third followed by
Kyla Pelletier, sophomore, and
Aubrey McMullin, senior. Gabriella Schwenker had her first race of the season coming in sixth for the team with a very strong finish. The women finished tenth overall.
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The men's team was ready to go and on the line at noon. A mass of runners headed up the first hill as the official's flag dropped and the men's 8-kilometer race began. Due to narrow pathways on the course, the race seemed particularly crowded even at the two mile. The Principia's men kept each other in sight early in the race and, as usual, Principia's third, fourth, and fifth runners stayed especially close together. By the fourth mile, senior
Wylie Mangelsdorf had moved into first place and senior
Derrick Fleming was close behind.Â
Nate Richards,
Shane Witters Hicks, and Kynan Witters Hicks were next through mile four followed by
Garrett Fielding,
Gavin Goodsell, and
Andy Crump, all gearing up for the last mile. Wylie was able to keep his place and finished in first with a time of 26:08.5.Â
Derrick Fleming ended up in tenth place finishing in 27:38.2.Â
Shane Witters Hicks was third for the team followed by
Nate Richards and Kynan Witters Hicks.Â
Garrett Fielding was sixth for Principia with
Gavin Goodsell and
Andy Crump coming in seventh and eighth for the team, respectively.Â
Gavin Goodsell had an especially strong finish. The men placed sixth overall.
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Next week Principia will be hosting the Cowbell Classic!
