GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Michigan Tech cross country squads saw both teams claim fourth-place finishes in a meet that showcased nine teams at the Phoenix Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin Green Bay on Saturday afternoon. Junior standout Sophia Rhein highlighted the day with a runner-up finish in the women's race as sophomore Colman Lenci led the men's team with a sixth-place finish.
Quotable
"Overall, I'm quite pleased with this start to our season. We ran intentionally conservative race plans since it is our first race effort of the season, so we know there's a ton of room to grow off of this performance," said head coach Robert Young. "It was so fun to watch Sophia put together such a strong race. That's the best she's ever looked in the final third of a race for us. It feels like she's unlocked a new gear and I'm excited for what lies ahead. The women's team showed some of what we've been excited for to start this season. The density of our pack is quite impressive, and with continued growth throughout the season, we can become quite formidable.
"Colman ran a very solid race to open this year's campaign despite getting spiked mid-race, which hindered his ability to move up later on. While we had athletes missing from both teams due to illness, the men's team was particularly hard hit. That said, our strength is the tightness of our pack and that still shined today. While I liked what I saw today, I know we will probably look even stronger next time out."
Rhein was the low-stick for the women's squad, finishing under 10 seconds behind the winner of the 6k race; her time of 21:49.8 was an over 30-second improvement from her fourth-place finish at the meet a season ago. Her placing helped the team finish with 102 points for fourth overall—13 points ahead of Division I and Horizon League affiliate Milwaukee. In total, the Huskies put six runners within the top-30.
Veteran Claire Endres was the second runner for the Black & Gold, taking 20th in 23:00.8, improving her time and place from 2024. The freshmen duo of Hannah DuPuis (25th-place) and Brooke Marquardt (27th-place) impressed in their collegiate debut for the Huskies, being the third and fourth runners for the team, running 23:09.7 and 23:11.9, respectively. Ingrid Halverson was close behind to round out the scoring, improving one place and nine seconds ahead of last season's finish for 28th overall.
Alisa Teige (29th-place) and Bridget Burns (41st-place) rounded out Michigan Tech's top seven with Teige lowering her time from last season by over 30 seconds, clocking in at 23:14.5.
In the men's race, Lenci improved two places from last season with his sixth-place finish in 25:28.3. The sophomore duo of Brady Ketzenberger (25:51.3) and Zeb Swager (25:51.3) took 12th and 13th-place, respectively, clocking sub 26 minutes on the 8k course with improving times and placement from 2024.
Senior Callen Carrier (30th-place) and freshman Eddie Snider (34th-place) rounded out the Black & Gold's top-five clocking times of 26:11.6 and 26:15.6 for Snider in his collegiate debut.
Sawyer Fowler (26:27.4) and freshman Jackson Lillywhite (26:49.2) rounded out the top seven, placing 33rd and 39th, respectively.
Up Next
The Huskies will be back in action on Sept. 19, traveling to the Twin Cities for the historic Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota.
