ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Carthage men's cross country team placed 23rd at the Augustana Interregional Invitational on Saturday, scoring 662 points in the 8K race. The Firebirds finished ahead of Nebraska Wesleyan and Bethel (Minn.) in the 37-team field.
Carthage finished 23rd with 662 points and a team time of 2:10:03. Wartburg won the team title with 64 points, followed by North Central (Ill.) with 107 and Wisconsin-La Crosse with 121. WashU and Wis-Stevens Points rounded out the top five teams.
Harlan Matson led the Firebirds, finishing 62nd overall with a time of 25:13.8.
Andrew Schaer followed in 90th at 25:28.7.
Luke Davey placed 152nd with a time of 26:01.7, while
LJ Higgs finished 165th in 26:07.3.
Joe Johnston rounded out Carthage's scoring five, finishing 289th with a time of 27:11.9.
Post-race with Head Coach Josh Henry.
Harlan Matson led Carthage with a 62nd-place finish in 25:13.8. What did you see from him and the rest of the team's performance at the Augustana Interregional Invitational?
"Harlan ran with a lot of confidence today and it showed. He lead our pack from the gun and took charge. I think that really helped our top group navigate the large and highly competitive field today."
Carthage finished 23rd in a competitive 37-team field. What were some positives you took away from the team's performance, and what areas do you want to see improve moving forward?
"Nearly everyone in the gold race was nationally or regionally ranked, so a 23rd place finish was a very big step forward in the right direction today. We had a very big race from LJ that was crucial in the positive team result. We still need to get more out of our five spot but we saw nearly everyone from our 5th man back run significant PRs so we're on the right path."
With the season progressing, how will the team use this meet as preparation for the upcoming championship portion of the schedule, and what will be the primary focus in training over the next few weeks?
"This definitely was a confidence booster and we'll carry that with us for the next two weeks of training. At this point in the season as we begin the peaking process we'll see training volume start to drop but we'll counterbalance that by ramping up the intensity of workouts. This is the best part of the season where all the mileage from the summer through the regular season is behind us and we can focus on feeling fresh and fast over the next month."
The Firebirds return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 for the 2026 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Cross Country Championships at St. James Farm in Warrenville, Ill. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.
