Pack Running Leads Panthers To Strong Finish At Notre Dame

All 11 runners post season-best times at national meet

South Bend, Ind. – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's cross country team used a true pack mentality that led to an outstanding showing at the 60^th running of the Notre Dame Invitational Friday afternoon.

All five finishers crossed the line for Milwaukee a mere 24 seconds apart – by far the best grouping of the entire meet.

UWM finished the race seventh out of 18 teams with 193 points. That finish was better than all four conference opponents at Friday's national meet, as well as significantly ahead of regional powers Butler and Vanderbilt.

"This was a high-quality meet for the team," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "The men ran well. They were closely bunched, which showed in the results and was key to us finishing where we did.

"This is a little big of a different race. It's high quality and against top-level competition. I consider it a track meet on grass. There's nowhere to hide. You have to go out early and hang on. It's a different race tactic, but it can help us identify what we need to work on.

"Overall, this was a successful day. That doesn't mean that we're satisfied, but we made progress today and that gets tougher and tougher to do as the season goes along. We'll look to apply what we learned today to the next meet and keep working toward our goals."

Junior Caleb Abfall came in 23^rd overall to lead the way for Milwaukee – the third different runner to finish first for the Panthers in the team's first three meets. Abfall made a strong push late and crossed the line at 25:17.0 – over 30 seconds off his season best and just shy of a PR.

Next up was Vince Paikowski. The junior had a phenomenal run, posting a career-best time of 25:25.4 for 32^nd overall.

Milwaukee rounded out its scoring quickly with three more runners all right next to each other.

Tony Sustachek claimed 44^th place with an outstanding time of 25:36.8 – the second-fastest time of his career. Adam Schueller was right behind at 25:37.6 for 45^th overall. That time equals a season best and is just shy of his PR set at last year's league meet.

Gerrit Bruni closed things out with a 49^th-place finish in 25:41.8 – the second-fastest time of his collegiate career.

The Panthers weren't done there, though.

Freshmen Nick Michalowski (26:37.1) and Terry McMillan (26:38.2) both shaved nearly a full minute of their previous fastest times, while classmate Matt Brooks was right behind at 26:47.8 - also a PR.

Three more Panther runners also did well competing in a separate race.

Sophomore Brian Schafer led the way for the trio with a time of 27:04.5, with Brian Sayles (27:43.5) and Wayu Bedaso (27:44.8) closing things out together.

The Panthers will return to action in two weeks at a pair of meets. Part of the team will compete at the Bradley Classic, Friday, Oct. 16, while the rest of the team will head to Louisville, Ky. for the Pre-National Race one day later.

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Abfall: Junior

Gerrit Bruni: Senior

V. Paikowski: Junior

Brian Schafer: Sophomore

Adam Schueller: Senior

Tony Sustachek: Senior

Nick Michalowski: Freshman

Terry McMillan: Freshman

Wayu Bedaso: Freshman

Matt Brooks: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Caleb Abfall
: Junior

Gerrit Bruni
: Senior

V. Paikowski
: Junior

Brian Schafer
: Sophomore

Adam Schueller
: Senior

Tony Sustachek
: Senior

Nick Michalowski
: Freshman

Terry McMillan
: Freshman

Wayu Bedaso
: Freshman

Matt Brooks
: Freshman