Oct. 10, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The Purdue men?s cross country team finished in third-place at the Keating Invitational on Sat., Oct., 9. This was the Boilers? third top-three finish in a total of four scored meets. The Boilermakers finished the day with a total of 98 points, defeating the hometown-University of Maine Black Bears. Winning the meet was Big Ten rival Michigan. The Wolverines had a total of 20 points, with a team average time of 24:29.59.
?I think that we competed well today considering the level of competition here,? head coach Mike Poehlein says. ?Donnie and Tito continue to perform well, and I think that our young guys are really coming along.?
Donnie Fellows added his fourth top-five finish in five meets, with a fourth-place finish at the Keating Invitational. The junior from Mercer Island, Wash., has been the Boilers top finisher in every meet this season, including a 13th-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational, where he ran a season-best time of 23:34. Fellows had his second-best performance of the season at the Keating, crossing the line in 24:26.15. Fellows was the top non-Michigan finisher at the race.
Following Fellows was classmate Tito Downer. The Carmel, Ind., native finished 19th, with a season-best time of 25:16.35. Following Downer was the freshman duo of Robert Heise and Logan Wealing. The tandem has been a pleasant surprise this season, as both have spent their fair share of time in the top-50. Heise closed out the afternoon at 24th-place, cracking the top-25 barrier for the fourth time on five meets, while Wealing finished 34th, with a time of 25:50.24. Rounding out the top-50 for the Boilermakers was Toby Buechner at 41 (26:14.40) and Matt Seeds at 47 (26:25.35).
?We continue to make adjustments to hone the talent on this team,? Poehlein says. ?With leaders like Fellows and Downer, and the talented group of freshmen that we have, I think that we are improving steadily with each meet.? Purdue will now travel to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Pre-Nationals.