Notes
Pretty solid first race of the year. things went very well. could of got a little more sleep and could of ate a little better. (Ate burgers and watched titanic *HAHA* till 11 or so). Oh well. Warm up could of gone a little better, whatevs.
Got out pretty competitively, right in the mix of things. Staing was really going for the gold out leading and all. I quickly reeled him in. Just stayed competitive throughout. the backstretch was really rough, little fan support was out there. Around the first "hill" i got passed up by kyle schmidt from SDSU, tried to stay up but i know he put in some good work.
After I hit the second 4k i knew things were gonna get tough. Felt really slow throughout, got passed up by quite a few guys from seattle, damn. Just maintained myself with all of them, tried gunning down a guy towards the end but he wouldnt let me pass!
Horrible kick today, almost non existent. Great first experience though, didnt know i went this fast!
Team is better, but we could still use some work.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota senior Josh LaBlanc (International Falls, Minn.) placed fourth overall as the Fighting Sioux hosted South Dakota State and Seattle in the 2010 Ron Pynn Classic. SDSU's Michael Krsnak took first in the 8k race with a time of 24:58.87, followed by Seattle's Eric Barkhaus (25:03.44), Jackrabbit teammate Greg Vollmer (25:27.73), and LaBlanc (25:32.44).
Over 125 spectators were in attendance at Ray Richards Golf Course as the Fighting Sioux fell to both South Dakota State (UND 44, SDSU 18) and Seattle (UND 40, SU 21).
This year's meet was run as a "double dual," with all three teams running at once but being scored against each other as separate dual races.
Junior Tyler Rose (Brainerd, Minn.) placed fifth against Seattle and eighth against SDSU with a time of 25:56.42.
In his first collegiate race, freshman Kyle Economy (Victoria, Minn.) finished 10th against both Seattle and SDSU with a time of 26:30.97.
Five other runners completed for UND: Adam Stainiger (Jr., Chisholm, Minn.; 26:52.61), Jerrod Braam (Fr., Pequot, Minn.; 27:29.47), James Dean (Fr., Brainerd, Minn.; 27:46.04), Ross Nelson (Fr., Apple Valley, Minn.; 28:50.05), and Christopher Knutson (Fr., Brainerd, Minn.; 29:18.74).
The UND men's cross country team will be back in action Friday, Sept. 10 when it heads to Charleston, Ill., for the Eastern Illinois Panther Open.