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2014 Lucian Rosa Start List

Lucian Rosa Previous Champions

8K Course Map

5K Course Map

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 10, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's and women's cross country squad's hit the trails of the Dannehl National Cross Country Course on Saturday, hosting the 28^th-annual Lucian Rosa Invitational.
 
The 16^th-ranked Ranger men toe the line at 10 a.m. for the 8,000-meter race with the women's 5,000-meter race following at 11 a.m.
 
About the Meet: The Lucian Rosa Invitational is named after UW-Parkside Hall of Famer Lucian Rosa. Rosa was a 1972 and 1976 Olympian. In 1974, he was fourth in the Boston Marathon and ranked 11th in the world. In the 1976 Olympics, he was the only runner defending gold medalist Frank Shorter feared. Standing at the starting line, Lucian was not allowed to run because his country withdrew for political reasons. While running for the Rangers, he was an eight-time All-American and six-time national champion. He won the USTF Marathon three times, the NAIA Marathon twice and the NAIA six-mile once. Lucian coached the Rangers in men's cross-country and track from 1977-2007.
 
The field: 23 teams are slated to compete in the men's race while 28 squads will hit the trails in the women's race. Of the 28 teams, three hail from NCAA Division I, eight each from NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III, five from the NAIA, two club teams and one team each from Canada and the junior college ranks.
 
From Division I: Chicago State University, University of Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern University.
 
From Division II: Concordia University Saint Paul, McKendree University, Michigan Tech University, Northern Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University, Upper Iowa University, Wayne State University (Mich.), UW-Parkside
 
From Division III: Alverno College, University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois Wesleyan University, Kalamazoo College, Marian University, Mount Mary University, Wheaton College (Ill.)
 
From NAIA: Cardinal Stritch University, Judson University, Madonna University, University of Michigan-Dearborn, University of Saint Francis (Ill.)
 
From Canada (Canadian Interuniversity Sport): University of Windsor
 
From Junior College: University of Wisconsin-Waukesha
 
From Club Ranks: Illinois Cross Country Club, Wisconsin Track Club
 
2013 Rewind: Canadian powerhouse University of Windsor won last year's men's race, collecting 47 points in the team tally to outdistance runner-up Ferris State University by 30 points. UW-Parkside placed fifth among the 24-team field, accruing 138 points. On the women's side, the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern University won the meet, collecting 57 points to edge Marquette University by a 21-point margin. The Ranger women placed eighth among the 28-team field, scoring 185 points.
 
Cloud County Community College's Benard Keter won the men's race, completing the 8,000-meter race in 24 minutes, 57.2 seconds while on the women's side, Ferris State's Samantha Johnson secured top billing by completing the 5K layout in 17:25.5.
 
About the UW-Parkside men's cross country squad: The 16^th-ranked Rangers have yet to lose this season, winning both the Midwest Open on Sept. 13 and the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 27.
 
UW-Parkside led the 33-team field at the Griak Invite at the Les Bolstead Golf Course in Saint Paul, Minnesota, scoring 90 points with all five scoring runners finishing among the top 35. Leading the way was 2012 All-American Evan Lewandowski who toured the 8,000-meter course in 26:05.9 while Jake Dubnicka was 17^th in 26:34.5. Gabe Poser logged a 22^nd place finish (26:39.9), KJ Matuszak was 25^th (26:42.4) while Armando Torres crossed the tape in 34^th place with a time of 27:00.7.
 
At the season opening Midwest Open, the Rangers placed five runners among the top eight in a dominating victory. Evan Lewandowski led the way, placing runner-up while Dubnicka, Torres, Matuszak and Pat Niyork secured the fifth through eighth positions, all finishing within a second of each other. The Rangers overpowered the eight team field, blowing away runner-up and Division I University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee by 23 points.
 
About the UW-Parkside women's cross country squad: The Rangers return home after placing 14^th at the 36-team field at the Roy Griak Invitational. Lindsay Rogers led the Green and White on Sept. 27, finishing the 5K race in 24:15 and 59^th overall. Amanda Zittleman logged a 83^rd place showing (24:44.2) while Moriah Palmer was four slots back in 24:48.2. Haley Thorpe and Haley Willis rounded out the scoring five placing 91^st (24:50.6) and 107^th (25:03.0), respectively.
 
Two weeks earlier at the season opening Midwest Open, the Rangers placed fourth at the eight team meet with four runners placing among the top 20. Palmer led the way, finishing 11^th (19:05.6) while Zittleman, Rogers and Thorpe finish back-to-back-to-back in 17^th through 19^th.   
 
The Dannehl: While Saturday's meet will be the final Ranger cross country home event of 2014 it won't be the final collegiate race this season at the Dannehl National Cross Country Course. The world class course hosts the Division I Horizon League Championships on Saturday, November 1.
 
Looking Ahead: The Ranger cross country teams return to action next weekend, racing at the Brooks Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Winneconne. The invite is the team's last race of the regular season before the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships on Nov. 8 in Romeoville, Illinois.