Golden Eagles Impress at The Greater Louisville Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams took advantage of the fast course en route to a host of personal-bests at the Greater Louisville Classic at Tom Sawyer Park on Saturday.

"Overall, it was a good day for both teams," head coach Mike Nelson said. "The men's group went 10-for-10 on setting 8k PRs. One guy I thought who ran exceptionally well was Patrick Bruch. Comparing to what he did last year, he made tremendous improvement.

Jon Klaiber led the men for the third-straight meet, running his fastest time of the season (24:37) and placing 32nd overall in a field of more than 220 runners. Ryan Burd (53rd) and Patrick Bruch (113) turned in their highest finishes on the team, coming in second and third, respectively, while Danny Peterson (118), Henry Mierzwa (120), Paolo Tiongson (126) and Alex Gill (142) completed the team's top-seven.

The men finished tied for 14th overall out of 29 teams competing.

The women's team turned in a 17th-place finish out of 26 teams with Mary Hanson once again leading the way for the third-straight meet with a 42nd-place finish.

"On the women's side, I really felt this was our best effort so far," Nelson said. "I thought they competed well and I believe there's still more in the tank. This team is still finding itself each week with newcomers and new contributors.

"This was our best race of the year. We're gaining more confidence and looking at building from here."

Caitlin McGauley, who placed 74th overall, was second on the team for the second time this season. Nora Keller (101), Kendall Pfrimmer (103), Emma Moravec (111), Emily Foley (122) and Mary Rose Flood (124) rounded out the team's top-seven.

Marquette also entered teams into the "Blue" reserve race where Amy Gasperlin, a track veteran and first-year cross country runner, led the women's side in 39th place. For the men, Stephen Poorten was the highest finisher in 44th place.

The Golden Eagles will travel to the Bradley "Pink" Classic in Peoria, Illinois, in two weeks.