Sept. 17, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Despite the top-five runners at this meet running in the wrong direction, the Boilers still came out with their head on straight, and another impressive finish. Due to the fact that the top-five runners ran the wrong direction, and ran an additional 1000m, they were placed into the top of the list, for scoring purposes.
Regardless of the debacle that occurred in the race itself, junior Donnie Fellows managed to keep his composure and again lead the Boilers in a meet. Fellows wrapped up an eighth-place finish, crossing the line in 25:08.13. With that finish, Fellows has managed to lead the Boilermakers in each of the first three cross country meets this season, including second-place finishes in the Old Gold and Black's first two meets.
"Donnie came through for us again," head coach Mike Poehlein says. "I think that we had some good output from Fellows, as well as Boesch and Downer. Robert Heise also continued to perform well."
Following Fellows in Friday's race was junior Tito Downer and sophomore Chris Boesch. Downer continued to show that he is a team leader both on and off the course, as he ran to a 16th-place finish in a time of 25:39.27. Boesch stays consistent with impressive performances, as he followed Downer in 17th-place with a time of 25:40.25. Helping the upperclassmen close out the 16-18 spots was freshman Robert Heise. Heise again cracked the top-20, showing that youth is key on this talented team. The newcomer crossed the finish line in 25:41.36. Joining Heise was fellow freshman Logan Wealing, breaking into the top-50 with a 41st-place finish in the 189-athlete field. Wealing ran a 26:29.17 time on the Terre Haute, Ind., course.
"I was again pleased with the way that our runners performed," Poehlein says. "I think that if we continue to run well, we could be contenders in the conference this year."
Purdue will return to West Lafayette for two weeks, before returning to action at the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 1.