UW-L Wins All-American Invite; Three Finishers in Top-Eight

For Immediate Release: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009

Decorah, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's cross country team opened its 2009 regular season with a first-place finish at the Luther College All-American Invitational Saturday afternoon in Decorah.

The Eagles finished with 46 team points while Luther was second with 72 and UW-River Falls third with 73. Hamline University, Minn. placed fourth (110 points) followed by Iowa Central Community College (126), Luther Alumni (129), UW-Eau Claire (150) and Grand View University, Iowa (233).

UW-L, ranked second in this week's United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Poll, had three runners place in the top-eight Saturday. Bobby Laabs was the Eagles' top finisher, placing fifth overall with a time of 21:17 on the four-mile course. Chris Glibert was seventh with a time of 21:20 and Brian Shonat finished eighth at 21:21.

Phill Hernandez placed 11th (21:27) for UW-L while Broc Vike was 15th (21:33); Josh Dedering 17th (21:35); Michael Behringer 18th (21:38) and Thomas Reader 20th (21:40).

Other finishers in the top-50 for the Eagles included: Kaiser Behnke 21st (21:42); Mark Punzenberger 26th (21:46); Dan Buvid 30th (21:52); Bobby Erickson 45th (22:11); Dayton Lueck 46th (22:12) and Josh Kaul 50th (22:18).

For complete results, click here.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, Sept. 19 at the UW-Whitewater Warhawk Invitational starting at 11:45 a.m.