WSC XC runs into the night

Distance runners place 14th

Mens+and+Womens+Cross+Country+participate+in+the+Augustana+Twilight+invitational.+Justin+Brueggemann+is+featured.

Photo By Marlon Brink

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country participate in the Augustana Twilight invitational. Justin Brueggemann is featured.

Justin Yost, Staff Writer

The Wayne State cross country teams opened up their 2015 season at the Augustana Twilight meet over this past weekend.

Seniors Justin Brueggemann and Nick Fly carried the men’s team to a 14th place finish. They finished 36th and 48th out of 266 runners. Brueggemann finished the four-mile race with a time of 20:34.

Fly, a transfer from Iowa Western Community College, was pleased with his performance, finishing with a time of 20:44.

“I was very happy with how the race went. I paced myself very well and placed a lot better than last year,” Fly said.

Other top finishers for the Wildcat men were Jack Doughty (22:04), Cortland Cassidy (22:20), Corbin Lehn (22:38), Nick Schmit (22:55) and Joey Black (23:26).

Andrea DeSimone led the Wildcat women at the meet. DeSimone ran the three-mile race with a time of 18:58 and placed higher than her own personal record at this meet with 57 out of 211 runners.

“I ran a little slower than I wanted to, but luckily this was the first meet of the year and I have plenty of time to cut my time,” DeSimone said.

Other top finishers for the women were Molly Kingsley (19:36), Mary Alderson (21:46), Melissa Kroll (21:58), Ellen Wulf (23:41) and Megan Svitak (25:06).

“Overall I thought this was a great meet for our runners,” head coach Marlon Brink said. “We are running very good times for this early in the season. We will continue to build our team’s depth and work hard to improve as the season progresses.”

The Wildcat runners will be in action again at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D. this upcoming Saturday.