The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Men's Cross Country team competed in one of the largest invites in the Midwest Saturday morning. With 43 teams (10 nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA) competing and 453 runners, the Warhawks placed second as a team with Christian Patzka (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) taking home the gold and Gunner Schlender (Brillion, Wis./Brillion) taking home the bronze.

Patzka finished with a time of 24:19.3, crossing the line first out of all 453 runners in the Varsity Race. Patzka had a 1.5 second lead over the second-place finisher. Gunner Schlender (Brillion, Wis./Brillion) also earned a medal, finishing third in the race with a time of 24:28.8. 

All Warhawk scorers all placed in the Top 40 overall, with Craig Hundley (Grayslake, IL/North) finishing 14th with a time of 24:54.3, Dan Anderson (Eau Claire, Wis./McDonell) in 33rd with a time of 25:15.5, and Justin Krause (Ixonia, Wis./Pewaukee) in 39th with a time of 25:21.1. UW-Whitewater scored 90 points, placing second overall. The nation's top ranked team, North Central College placed first.

Nick Hardin (Greenfield, Wis./Whitnall) (53rd-25:30.8), Chris Allen (Downers Grove, Ill./North) (60th-23:37.9), Tucker Johnson (Poynette, Wis./Poynette) (25:45.9), Connor Murphy (Sheboygan Falls, WI) (26:49.7), and Landen Bratt (Waukesha, Wis./West) (26:56.9) also competed in the Varsity meet for the Warhawks.

In the open heat, the Warhawks placed 4th out of 34 teams. Alex Metko (Brillion, Wis./Brillion) crossed the line first for the Warhawks squad, making the top 10 with a a time of 26:26.5 for a tenth place finish. He was joined by Keegan Bratt (Waukesha, WI/West) (24th-26:41.0), Nick Wendl (Milwaukee, WI/Wisconsin Lutheran) (34th-26:53.0), Rhett Reuter (Darlington, Wis./Darlington) (38th-26:57.3), Aiden Johnson (47th-27:04.6), Braden Eckman (Lake Zurich, IL) (53rd-27:09.5), Tommy Conklin (West Bend, Wis./East) (81st-27:29.0), Will MacCudden (Slinger, Wis./Slinger) (28:53.8), and Colin Lewandowski (Elmhurst, Ill./York) (29:13.3) in the open race. 404 runners competed in the open race.

Next up, the Warhawks have one more meet before postseason. The Warhawk Open will be held on Friday, October 20th at 4 PM on the Campus Course.