EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Morris men's cross country team finished in 21st place out of 25 teams at the Blugold Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Cougars finished with 589 points on the afternoon and finished ahead of three other UMAC schools in the event.

The top two finishers on the day for the Cougars – Gregory Peterson and Rory Shackelford – had times that ranked among the seven best in program history as both set PRs. Peterson had the fourth-fastest 8k time in school history with a 26:46.21, while Shackelford had the seventh-fastest 8k with a 27:14.90. Those times ranked third and fifth, respectively, in school history on the UW-Eau Claire course.

The other scorers for Minnesota Morris on Friday were Joel Knopp (28:21.53), Calvin Nelson (29:46.74), and Grant Strukel (30:06.77). 

Three other runners on the course for the Cougars were Brevin O'Connor with a time of 30:33.90, Josh Meixell, who clocked in at 34:03.49, and Gabriel Brand with a 34:35.42.

Minnesota Morris has one more race prior to the UMAC Championships and it will be in two weeks at Crown College with the St. Boni Invite being held on Oct. 14 at 5 p.m.