The contenders in the Men's Varsity 8k at the Blugold Invitational whittled down one by one as the race progressed: five men were within one second of the lead at the 2 mile; four were within the same distance at 5k; and then two were separated by just 0.30 seconds at the 3.75 mile split.

That's when Christian Patzka (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) made his move and beat former M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week Will Kelly of St. Olaf by more than seven seconds in 24:31.0. Patzka now has two wins under his belt in 2023, previously triumphing at the UWRF River Town Twilight in September.

This is the first time since 2014 that a male athlete from UW-Whitewater has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Patzka joins Dawson Miller in that regard (Miller earned national weekly honors way back on October 27, 2014).