The 5th annual Wisconsin Adidas Invitational was held in Madison, Wis., Saturday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course. The UA’s men’s team ran the 8,000 meter race while the women’s team ran the 6,000 meter race.
The women’s team earned a first place finish in the race, with sophomore Kayla Beattie leading the pack and taking 7th place overall with a time of 19:56. Next for the women was freshman Maria Larsson with a time of 20:07, good for 15th place overall.
Third for the UA was junior Nicci Corbin with a time of 20:09, taking 18th place overall. Coming in fourth for the Wildcats was senior Elvin Kibet with a time of 20:12 and taking 21st place overall. The fifth Wildcat to cross the line, and final scorer, was junior Hanna Peterson with a time of 20:41, good for 56th place.
Also running for the women’s team was junior Stephanie Bulder (21:02, 88th), senior Erin Menefee (21:13, 117th), and sophomore Molly Callahan (21:35, 165th). This was the first year the women have taken a first place win, taking third place overall in 2011 and 2012.
The No. 3 women’s team had 117 points for the win. No. 8 Arkansas came in second place with 136 points, while No. 1 Providence finished in third place with 191 points. No. 9 Michigan State came in fourth with 200 points and No. 28 Iowa State had 235 points, good for fifth place.
With this weekend’s win, the Wildcat women have won all four of their races this season. They did not participate as a team in the Mesa Thunderbird Cross Country Classic on Oct. 12.
“It was a great win for the women’s team today, especially at a meet of this caliber,” said head coach James Li. “Rankings don’t mean anything but we did beat the No. 1 team in the country today so we did very well … We are going to keep working and trying to improve, we have five weeks until the NCAA Championships and that is what we are working toward.”
For the men’s team, junior Lawi Lalang, who also made his season debut this weekend, led the way for the Wildcats with 23:35, coming in 13th place overall. Coming in second for the men was junior Sam Macaluso, with a time of 24:18 and 92nd place.
Next for the UA was freshman Collins Kibet with 24:40 and taking 153rd place overall. Junior Kenji Bierig came in 171st place overall with a time of 24:49. The final scorer for the men was sophomore Jonas Legernes with a time of 25:05, taking 201st place overall.
Also running for the men’s team was sophomore Matthew Beer (25:22, 215th), junior Thomas Valente (25:28, 219th), sophomore Dylan Hopper (25:53, 266th), and freshman Travis Thorne (26:12, 275th).
The UA men had 630 points, taking 30th place overall at the Invitational. No. 3 NAU won the men’s race with 121 points, while No. 5 BYU came in second with 174 points and No. 7 Portland finished in third with 216 points.
Lalang won the Wisconsin Invitational in 2011 and 2012, making this only the second time in Lalang’s cross country collegiate career that he has not won a race. “Lawi [Lalang] isn’t happy with his race today but I am reasonably happy,” Li said. “He’s only trained for two weeks and he still ran five miles at 4:45 pace so that is pretty remarkable…”
The Wildcats’ next meet is Nov. 2, in Louisville, Colo., for the Pac-12 Championships.
— Follow Makenzie Thiel @makenziethiel
