NORTHFIELD — The Carthage men's cross country team placed eighth overall at the St. Olaf Invitational on Saturday afternoon, scoring 210 points in the 8K race. The Firebirds competed against a field of 18 scoring teams, with South Dakota State claiming the team title with 24 points.
Carthage finished eighth with 210 points and a team time of 2:14:10.5. St. Olaf (94), Wis.-River Falls (122), U of Manitoba (143), and Carleton (148) rounded out the top five teams behind South Dakota State.
Junior Harlan Matson led the Firebirds with a 17th-place finish, completing the 8K course in 26:00.6. Sophomore
Andrew Schaer followed in 29th at 26:21.8, while junior
Luke Davey placed 40th in 26:41.8.
Freshman LJ Higgs finished 52nd in 27:08.7, while senior Joe Johnston rounded out Carthage's scoring five in 72nd at 27:57.8.
Post-race with Head Coach Josh Henry:
Harlan Matson led the Firebirds with a 17th-place finish in 26:00.6, while Andrew Schaer and Luke Davey also finished inside the top 40. What did you see from those three at the front of the lineup, and how do you feel that group is developing?
"I was happy with how our trio up front ran today. They raced aggressively, having a strong presence in the lead pack for a good portion of the race. We just need them to get a little more familiar with being in that lead group and distributing their efforts a little better in order to finish the race the way that I know they can. Putting themselves in that position is step one and I think today was a great learning experience and confidence boost. It's a lot easier to see yourself among the best when you put yourself there."
Carthage finished eighth with 210 points in a field that included several strong regional programs. What did you learn about the team's current strengths and areas that need improvement from competing in a field like this?
This was a strong team day for us. Beyond the scoring 7, we had guys really take big steps. In the team scoring context, we showed that we're close to where we want to be, but not there yet. Our trio up front is still learning how to race among the All-Region level guys. Our 4-7 are inexperienced and in need of taking big steps. That's not going to happen overnight, but we got a lot closer to being where we need to be today. I'm confident this group will look stronger every time out this season and I think we can finish among those teams by season's end.
Your team has a weekend off of racing before returning to Northfield for the Running of the Cows. What will the focus be for the team in practice in the coming weeks?
We were a little disrupted from our typical training flow with last week's schedule change. The week off from racing will get us back in rhythm and allow us to hit some quality work over the next 10 days. Those efforts will be crucial in allowing us to turn our general fitness from the summer training into race specific fitness. I think in many cases, that was lacking today (by design), and it will really help our guys close the races more strongly moving forward.
The Firebirds return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Carleton Running of the Cows in Northfield, Minn. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.
