WIAC Championships - Team Results

WIAC Championships - Individual Results

Cuba City, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's cross country team captured the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship Saturday afternoon at Cole Acres Golf Course.  The Eagles finished with 30 team points while UW-Eau Claire was second with 89 and UW-Platteville third with 92. It is UW-L's league-best 31st title in school history and first since 2009. 

UW-Stevens Point placed fourth (98) Saturday followed by UW-Stout (105), UW-Oshkosh (117), UW-River Falls (212), UW-Whitewater (218) and UW-Superior (295). 

UW-L had eight runners place in the top-20, including five in the top-10.  The Eagles' Josh Dedering finished second overall with a time of 24:59.7 on the 8,000-meter course.  UW-L's Garrett Kerska placed fifth (25:09.3) while Josh Kaul finished sixth (25:10.6), Nate Routhier seventh (25:14.4) and Sam Simones 10th (25:22.0).

Tom Linner placed 14th (25:27.4) while Justin Lauria-Banta finished 18th (25:35.1) and Jacob Peterson was 19th (25:38.1). 

The Eagles' Gerald Kerska finished 24th (25:44.5), Eric Lauria-Banta 48th (26:29.5), Mark Punzenberger 65th (26:56.8) and Andrew Rohlman 85th (27:41.4). 

"I couldn't be happier for our men," said first-year UW-L head coach Derek Stanley.  "They came out and showed up with the pressure on. They reacted to the initial push and controlled the race the rest of the way.

"I'm not sure our teams could have run much better than they did today. We can walk away from this meet knowing we put everything out there and did the best we could. I couldn't be more proud of our team's effort today."

Tim Nelson of UW-Stout won the individual title with a time of 24:34.2. A total of 105 runners competed. 

UW-L returns to action Saturday, November 10 at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional in Winneconne, Wisconsin starting at 11 a.m.