On an unusually hot mid-October day, the UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s cross country teams both placed 24th at the Cowbell Classic Oct. 14 in Elsah, Illinois at the North Farm Course.

The meet gave the Warhawks a first- hand look at what it would take to win a team or individual national title. Fourteen of the top 25 men’s teams were at the meet, along with six of the top 10 women’s teams. The North Farm Course will also be the location of the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.

“It [the competition] was really tough,” head coach Jeff Miller said. “It was very warm down there, I think we did okay. For the women, I thought if we could be in the top 25 teams that would be doing pretty good. I thought the guys had a chance to be in the top 20.”

The temperature soared to over 85 degrees in Elsah, which forced the men to move their race earlier in the morning.

Men’s senior Brett Harms took the top spot for the Warhawks with a time of 25:25.13 and nished 12th out of the 38-team, 354-runner eld. Harms has claimed the top time for UW-W all three meets this year.

“This was basically a preview of the national meet,” Harms said. “A few of the favorites to win nationals individually were there so it was a really deep field. I wanted to get top 10 and just missed it by a couple spots. I went out with the leaders which was awesome.” Freshmen Mitchell Georgi (27:36.65) and Kyle Neuroth (27:38.76) finished second and third for the Warhawks, with overall placements of 186th and 193rd. Senior Alec Meixelsperger (27:41.12) and sophomore Clinten Woerishofer (27:41.80) clocked in less than a second apart, good for finishes of 196th and 199th.

The last two scorers for the Warhawk men were freshman David Fassbender and junior Jeremy Morgan. Fassbender placed 202nd with a time of 27:45.68, while Morgan nished 206th at 27:50.01.

For the women, freshman Jessie Braun paced the Warhawks with a time of 24:13.90, earning her a 123rd place nish in the 36-team, 332-runner field.

“I started o conservatively with Liz [Mielke] since it was so hot,” Braun said. “We ran most of the race together, then towards the end I started picking it up and passing people.”

It was the second time this year Braun clocked in rst for the Warhawks, while the other result was a second-place nish.

The second and third place nishers for the Warhawks were junior Liz Mielke (24:29.78) and freshman Kennedy Hauser (25:43.63). Mielke placed 147th, and Hauser 207th.

Right behind Hauser was senior Monica Sweet at 208th with a time of 25:44.49. Fellow senior Mara Wiebke checked in at 25:52.48, for a 216th place finish.

Completing UW-W’s scoring times was junior Manda Slaback (25:54.64) at 218th, and senior Emma Knudston (25:59.32) at 224th.

Both teams will head north to Winneconne, Wisconsin Oct. 20 to partake in the Oshkosh Open, hosted by conference member UW-Oshkosh.