This past weekend, Loras gave some of its younger cross-country runners a taste of collegiate competitions.

The men’s and women’s teams traveled to Augustana for the Brisman-Lundeen Invitational. The men ran the 8K race and the women ran the 7K race at the invitational.

Coach Bob Schultz said last week he would give many of his upperclassmen a rest this past week so they would have three weeks of rest and practice until their next race. He stayed true to his word, as the top seven runners for the men consisted of mostly underclassmen and he was pleased with how well many of his runners did.

“Loras ran pretty well and I’m proud of the way some of our first-years stepped up, knowing they were top 5 or top 7 for Loras this week.”

The women’s race reportedly had a small mixup when the lead car took a wrong turn and the women ended up racing about 600 meters shorter than they were supposed to.

Nonetheless, Schultz was particularly impressed by the performances from two first-year runners, Molly Rea and Maria Kalb.

Both the men’s and women’s teams placed 16th in the races this weekend. The men’s team competed among 25 and the women’s team was among 21 teams that participated.

“I was not concerned at all about our team place,” Schultz said. “This meet was about getting experience and running fast times. Everyone had a seasonal PR (personal record) and a few had lifetime PRs.”

Sophomore runner Dan McDermott was one of the top runners for the Loras men this past weekend.

“The team represented Loras pretty well on Friday considering the team did not run some of our top runners.” McDermott said. “It gave the younger runners, like me, the opportunity to get some valuable experience.”

Augustana is a flat and fast course, but it was soggy from a deluge of rain on Friday.

“We had to run through a lot of puddles,” McDermott said. “Running on a fast course like Augustana and having the opportunity to run on varsity does wonders for confidence, which is a huge part of running well.”

The men’s and women’s teams both have two weeks off to rest up and get some quality workouts in for their next race Oct. 10 at Wartburg for the Dan Huston Invitational.