Cross country teams take first at invitational

Tess Ehrhardt finished the 5K race in first place. Photo: Steve Woltmann

By Jenny Cklamovski

“We demonstrated some good pack running on the women’s side and used the strategy to sneak by,” head coach Jim Knoedel said.

Senior Photis Karkalis led the men’s team in the 8K, placing third with a time of 25:45.2.

Kyle Hauser and Arash Darbandi followed, taking fifth and 10th with scores of 25:49.1 and 26:20.0.

“After being flat at our initial race of the year the guys turned over a new leaf and stunned some of the teams there,” Knoedel said.

“Our guys raced like I knew they were capable, from the gun they showed a fire which helped us easily top conference rivals.”

On the women’s side, Tess Ehrhardt finished in first place, piloting female runners in the 5K race, with a time of 18:11.7. Emma Preston and Lauren Lindholm finished close behind with times of 18:57.1 and 19:22.3.

“Tess was back early in the race helping her teammates but I could see the focus in her eyes. Even though she was behind at the 2-mile mark, I knew she was going to win,” Knoedel said.

The Flames return to action next at 2 p.m. Friday, competing at the Notre Dame Invitational.