MADISON, Wis. - Running along side some of the top teams in the entire nation the Thunderbird men's cross country team had a big day, finishing in 12th place finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
The meet featured 19 of the USTFCCCA Top 30 teams on the men's side, including the top three teams in the entire country.
SUU head coach Eric Houle said he was proud of what the team accomplished on Friday, and sees a bright future ahead for this group of athletes.
“Coming in and competing with the top teams in the country, and finishing where we did, is proof that this team is one of the best young teams in the nation,” he said.
The Thunderbirds had one junior, five sophomores and one freshman compete in the Championship Race on Friday morning.
Matt Wright was the top finisher for the Thunderbirds, running the 8K in 24:33.4 to finish in 45th overall. This marks the first time that Wright has been the top finisher for the Thunderbirds in his collegiate career.
Kasey Knevelbaard wasn't too far behind him, running the course in 24:36.8 to finish in 50th overall. Josh Collins was third for SUU and 62nd overall, running the course in a time of 24:44.5.
George Espino finished fourth for SUU and 76th overall with a time of 24:51.7. Aidan Reed rounded out SUU's top-five with a 25:08.7 that landed him in 114th place overall.
Liam Kennell and Koy Moore rounded out SUU's scoring with 142nd (25:23.0) and 173rd (26:07.5) place finishes respectively.
SUU finished ahead of several ranked teams, with No. 26 Tulsa, No. 17 Georgetown, No. 18 Boise State, No. 23 Washington, No. 22 Michigan State, No. 24 Providence and No. 25 Penn all finishing (in said order) behind the Thunderbirds.
Espino said he feels like this race will do a lot for the team's confidence as they move forward into the 2016 campaign.
“I thought this really helped, since we were an unranked team and there's the potential for us to move up,” he said.
The T-Birds also had two competitors in the Open Race that was ran earlier in the morning.
Brady Olson finished in 20th place in the Open Race with a time of 25:32.6 and Kyle Warrick finished in 30th with a time of 25:46.4.
The Thunderbirds will now enter championship season, with the Big Sky Conference Championship as the next meet on the schedule.
