SEPTEMBER 27:
SEAN EARL/LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAKEFRONT INVITATIONAL

CHICAGO --- Each of University of St. Francis’ top five runners established personal season bests in going up against nine NCAA I foes and 34 teams overall at the Sean Earl/Loyola University Lakefront Invitational on Saturday.

USF, which had 12 runners compete altogether, placed 25th overall in a field that featured 371 total runners.

NAIA No. 1-ranked Malone College (OH) stunned the NCAA I competition as well as all others by bringing home the team title.  The Pioneers scored 44 points led by Nikolaus Schweikert, who bested all runners with a 24:49.  That was seven seconds faster than the next finisher.

University of Illinois placed second with 52 points.

Sophomore Michael McElyea (Sangamon Valley H.S./Illiopolis, IL) earned his first top team finish for St. Francis placing 142nd with a time of 27:33.  Right behind was freshman Josh Brent (Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S./Monroe, MI) with his 27:34 time and 143rd placement.

Sophomore Adam Yost (Sparta H.S./Sparta, MI) also finished in the upper tier of all runners with his 163rd-place showing and 27:56 time.

USF’s other scorers were sophomore Tony Burbatt (Bremen H.S./Midlothian, IL) (248th, 29:29) and freshman Keith Fuentes (Bremen H.S./Posen, IL) (253rd, 29:39).

SEPTEMBER 19:
NATIONAL CATHOLIC CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- University of St. Francis boasted three runners in the upper-half of all finishers at the National Catholic Cross Country Invitational, hosted by University of Notre Dame (Ind.) on Friday, to notch a 21st-place team finish among 33 teams overall.

Duquesne University (Pa.) edged out the host Irish to earn the overall team title scoring 44 points to Notre Dame’s 45.  DePaul University was a distant third with its 115 points.

St. Francis totaled 618 points.

A pair of USF freshmen, Ryan Scott (Grand Rapids West Catholic H.S./Grand Rapids, MI) and Josh Brent (Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S./Monroe, MI), had their own tight race with Scott clipping Brent for 97th place overall.  Brent placed 98th with both runners finishing in a time of 27:49.

Sophomore Michael McElyea (Sangamon Valley H.S./Illiopolis, IL) also ran well, placing 131st out of the 267 runners with his time of 28:25.

Sophomores Adam Yost (Sparta H.S./Sparta, MI) and Jorge Carmona (Aurora Central Catholic H.S./Aurora, IL) rounded out USF’s top five finishers with times of 28:47 and 29:55.  Yost placed 154th with Carmona finishing in 192nd place.

AUGUST 29:
ELMHURST EARLYBIRD INVITATIONAL

ELMHURST, Ill. --- Head coach Drew Ludtke felt coming into the season that his University of St. Francis men’s cross country team would be the most improved in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and certainly much more competititve in meets around the Midwest. Friday’s 6-kilometer race at the Elmhurst College Earlybird Invitational gave every indication that Ludtke’s preseason hunch was correct.

The Saints placed fifth out of 13 schools in the season-opening meet and placed one runner in the top 10 and a total of four among the first 23 finishers.

Last year, in the opening meet of the program’s inaugural season, USF sent just three runners to Elmhurst and did not qualify for team scoring.

Freshman Josh Brent (Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S./Monroe, MI) paced the Saints with a time of 20:07 and a ninth-place individual finish. Sophomore Adam Yost (Sparta H.S./Sparta, MI) came in 17th with a clocking of 20:44.

Two other Saints finished seconds later as sophomore Mike McElyea (Sangamon Valley H.S./Illiopolis, IL) was 22nd (21:01) and freshman Ryan Scott (Grand Rapids West Catholic H.S./Grand Rapids, MI) was 23rd (21:08).

Sophomore Anthony Burbatt (Bremen H.S./Midlothian, IL) rounded out the USF scoring with a 41st-place finish and a time of 22:13.

University of Chicago won the team title, followed by NCAA Division II Lewis University. Illinois Tech led the NAIA schools in third and host Elmhurt was fourth. USF finished ahead of CCAC foe Trinity Christian who placed sixth.