KENOSHA, Wis. — In celebration of Carthage's Stay at Home Homecoming Weekend, the men's cross country team ran in the virtual 5K event Saturday night at Art Keller Field. The women's team joined in on the event with a 5K on Friday morning at the UW-Parkside Wayne E. Dannehl National Course as well.

With participants from the Carthage community entering their times virtually in this weekend's 5K race, the women's team posted their times Friday, as senior Laura Sanders led the team to finish first.

"The Stay at Home 5k was a huge success not only for our teams but for our alumni," said women's head coach Stephanie Domin. "During this homecoming weekend, we had many old and new alumni post on social media about their virtual 5K. The support was amazing, the Carthage College cross country and track and field community is truly an amazing group, thank you all!"

The men's team ran their 5K on the track at Art Keller Field Saturday night, with senior Thomas Olenek leading the way with a time of 15:39 and placing first overall. Peyton Heiser took second on the team with a 15:42 while Joseph Boreczky rounded out the top three after crossing the finish line in 15:44. Six student-athletes on the Carthage cross country team finished with a time under 16 minutes.

"I was extremely happy with how we performed from top to bottom," said men's head coach Josh Henry. "We planned to set up three pace groups, and the guys in all three groups did a great job of hitting pace and working together. Up front we saw some very nice runs, led by excellent pacing from Thomas Olenek. Getting six guys under the 16-minute barrier for the first 5K of the year was huge. That is a first for the team in a single season during my time coaching here, and to do that in a time trial setting in early October is extremely exciting."

Alumni and friends of the Carthage cross country and track and field community poured in their times over the weekend, with ages ranging from seven to 85. The top finisher outside of the current Carthage student-athletes was alumni Michael Von Borstel '17, who owns the school's second-fastest outdoor 5,000-meter run time, and posted a result of 15:54 this weekend to place fifth overall in the Stay at Homecoming Virtual 5K.
 
"It was a really fun event for our coaches and student-athletes," said Henry. "To see alumni posting about their 5K's as we were preparing for ours was pretty unique. It has been really cool to feel like we were participating in the same event as so many alumni, friends, and family. This is something I am sure we will consider continuing in future years regardless of how prevalent COVID is in our daily lives."

The Carthage men's cross country team is set to compete in the Carthage Send 'em Virtual Series Team Elimination Mile this Saturday, October 10 at 8 p.m.

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