Results
Ben Orvold captured 7th place and earned ALL GLVC Honors for the first time in his career in Cross Country, as he led the UWP Men's Cross Country Team to a 6th place in the team standings, its best finish in the past 4 years.
Orvold worked his way into the Top 10 during the 3rd km of the event. He raced strong to the finish. His time of 25:30 was 6 seconds out of 3rd place and 30 seconds behind champion, Jamie Villa Zapatero of Drury.
The Top 5 for the Rangers beyond Orvold included Alex Mena (33rd, 26:49), Dustin Baldwin (45th, 27:07), Bryan McLoone (53rd, 27:22), Matt Vidas (68th, 27:48).
Robert Meyers (77th, 28:02) and Phil Simac (93rd, 28:52) completed the UWP Roster. The field included 123 finishers.
The Ranger Men improved on last year's 7th place finish and '07's 10th place finish. It was their best GLVC finish since the 5th place earned in 2005. Orvold is also the first UWP ALL GLVC Cross Country Runner since '04 when Cal Kromm, Paul Gutman, and Jason Matuzack all placed in the Top 10.
Coach Mike De Witt commented: "The men did a solid job in this years meet. When you look back over the past 3 years, this group has learned a lot about how to compete and get the best out of their ability. Ben Orvold did a great job as well as Bryan McLoone and Alex Mena who earned career best times at the 8000m distance."