MU Cross Country to Race at Greater Louisville Classic

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Oct. 5. The meet, which is being hosted by the University of Louisville, will take place at Tom Sawyer State Park, located about 30 minutes northeast of the UofL campus.

SCHEDULE:
The men's 8k race is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. Central time, while the women's 5k race will begin at 9:15 a.m. CT.

"Louisville has traditionally been a fast course, and I think all us of are very fit right now to run some fast times," senior captain Caitlin McGauley said. "The field is packed this year, so it will be harder to get off the line and in a good position. However, we know to expect this and practiced using some of our speed this week, so I believe were are going to have an awesome weekend."

Interim head coach Sean Birren, halfway through his first season as the man in charge, has led the Golden Eagle men's team to two first place finishes and a third place finish this year. The women's team has taken first, second and fifth place in three races.

LAST YEAR AT THE GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC:
The men's team placed 14^th out of 29 teams and the women placed 17^th out of 26 teams at the 2018 Greater Louisville Classic.

John Klaiber (32^nd) and Ryan Burd (53^rd) led the men's team in a field with over 220 runners. Patrick Bruch, who finished third among Golden Eagle men, set an 8k personal record with a time of 25:41.0. The junior will return to the site of his PR this Saturday along with teammates Danny Peterson, Paolo Tiongson and Alex Gill, who all finished in MU's top seven in 2018.

Mary Hanson led the women's team with a 42^nd-place finish last year. Caitlin McGauley, Kendall Pfrimmer, Emma Moravec, Emily Foley and Mary Rose Flood all finished in the top seven for MU in Louisville last year and are set to compete once again.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Senior Caitlin McGauley: "Our team has definitely improved since week one, both physically and mentally. Initially, I think we were a little wary of how the season might go, with getting a new coach and losing a few key contributors to the team. Now, I can see more confidence in my teammates on the course and in practice. We all know we can be a very good team, and I think we're all going to head into the championship season knowing we will be a competitive force to race against."

Junior Lauren Neiheisel: "There's going to be a lot of people out there (at the Greater Louisville Classic), so you just have to stick yourself out there and try to make your way up in the pack. I'm just hoping to get close to my PR and hopefully help our team improve our finish from last year."

Senior Daniel Pederson: "The [Greater] Louisville Classic is always a fun meet to run in. It's a fast course that provides a great opportunity to reach a new personal record. I'm going to stick my nose in there and try my best to finish up near the front as there will be a ton of good competition in this race."

Junior Danny Peterson: "We know that we're a great team right now, but we want to prove we can compete with the better teams in our region. We want to a lot of fast times and turn some heads both regionally and nationally this weekend.

LOYOLA LAKEFRONT INVITATIONAL:
Senior Daniel Pederson paced the MU men, taking first place overall in a field with over 125 runners. His time of 24:56.39 is his second best 8k finish in his collegiate career. It's also his second career first-place finish (Sept. 9, 2017, Vic Godfrey Open).

Pederson and the men's team placed third in the 15-team field with 92 points at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. Four of the Golden Eagles top seven runners placed in the top 35 overall with an average time of 25:30. McMaster (45 points) and Wisconsin (65) took first and second place, respectively.

The Golden Eagle women placed fifth (5k) in the 18-team field with an average time of 18:34 in their top seven. MU finished with 143 points as a team. Northern Illinois (60 points) took first while Loyola (64), Wisconsin (83) and Oakland (126) rounded out the top four.

Following Pederson on the men's team was senior Ryan Burd (25:20.83), who took ninth, which marks his third top-10 finish of the fall. Senior captain Brad Eagan also placed in the top 20, finishing 19^th with a time of 25:39.06. Sophomores August Beyer (25:50.35) and Jordan Janusiak (25:53.50) took 30^th and 33^rd, respectively.

Patrick Bruch (26:12.41) and Danny Peterson (26:13.24) finished back-to-back at Nos. 55 and 56 to round out the top seven.

Senior Caitlin McGauley (18:26.25) paced her team for the third straight meet and finished 25^th overall in a field of 156 runners. Junior Emily Foley (18:32.66) was right on her heels (29^th place) along with freshman Kate Jochims (18:34.91), who also placed in the top 30.

Kendall Pfrimmer (18:35.33) was less than a second behind Jochims and took 31^st while Lauren Neiheisel (18:36.63) finished two spots behind her at No. 33. Freshman Laurel Moneysmith (18:52.09) took 40th overall while Mary Rose Flood (19:21.80) rounded out MU's top seven, placing 78^th overall.

In the gold races ("B"), both the men's and women's teams took first place out of 31 teams. Johnny Hyland (26:03.54) paced the men's team and finished second overall. Emily Noone (19:04.40) led the women's team and took fifth place in the field.

GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC COMPETITION:

WOMEN'S COMPETING TEAMS: Appalachian State, Ball State, Bowling Green, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Cornerstone, Davidson, DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Ferris State, Indiana Wesleyan, Indianapolis, Johns Hopkins, Kennesaw State, Kentucky, Kentucky Christian, Lipscomb, Louisville, Madonna, Marquette, Marshall, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Murray State, Ohio, Roberts Wesleyan, Samford, SCAD Atlanta, Shawnee State, Southwest Baptist, St. Ambrose, St. Bonaventure, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, Vanderbilt, Wayne State (Mich.), Xavier.

MEN'S COMPETING TEAMS: Appalachian State, Bellarmine, Bowling Green, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Chattanooga, Davidson, DePaul, East Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois, Ferris State, Florida Gulf Coast, Goshen, Indiana Wesleyan, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Louisville, Marquette, Marshall, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Montreal, Morehead State, Northwood (Mich.), Ohio, Roberts Wesleyan, Samford, Shawnee State, Southwest Baptist, St. Bonaventure, Stetson, Trinity, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, Vanderbilt, Wayne State (Mich.), West Florida, West Texas A&M, Xavier.

UP NEXT:
After Saturday's meet, both teams will prepare for the Bradley "Pink" Classic on Friday, Oct. 18 in Peoria, Illinois. They'll head to the Leatherneck Invitational Oct. 25 at Western Illinois before heading home for the BIG EAST Championships on Nov. 2.

MARQUETTE ENTRIES:

WOMEN:
Sophie Bolich
Anna Buckstaff
Mary Rose Flood
Emily Foley
Kate Jochims
Mallory Lafever
Caitlin McGauley
Laurel Moneysmith
Emma Moravec
Lauren Neiheisel
Emily Noone
Lauren Pappas
Anna Penzkover
Kendall Pfrimmer
Hannah Ray
Marissa Valentini

MEN:
Augie Beyer
Patrick Bruch
Ryan Burd
Patrick Burns
Matt Cavanaugh
Brad Eagan
Cade Ferron
Alex Gill
Derek Gross
Jack Hawes
Patrick Hetlage
Johnny Hyland
Jordan Janusiak
Matt Moravec
Daniel Pederson
Danny Peterson
Paolo Tiongson
Joshua Urban
Greg Van Hollen

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).