Oct. 16, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The Purdue men?s cross country team, competing in their most difficult meet of the season, came out with a sixth-place finish in the ?B? bracket of the Pre-Nationals at Indiana University. The Boilers finished the day with 207 points.
?I think that this was a good experience for our team,? head coach Mike Poehlein says. ?This was one of the most difficult meets of the season. We ran on a good, but tough course.?
Leading the way for Purdue was junior Donnie Fellows. The Mercer Island, Wash., native again led the Boilermakers, this time with a seventh-place finish at the prestigious meet. Fellows ran a time of 25:39.03, averaging 5:09 per mile. This is the sixth-consecutive meet that Fellows has led Purdue, and the fifth out of six meets that he has cracked the top-ten barrier.
?Donnie ran great again today,? Poehlein says. ? Toby Buechner looked good as well. He should be a very good competitor in the coming meets.?
Following in the footsteps of Fellows were teammates Tito Downer and Chris Boesch. Downer had the Boilers second-best time on the day, finishing in 45th place, with a time of 26:34.96. Boesch, a sophomore, finished in 67th-place, crossing the line in 26:54.17. Also having a promising day was freshman Toby Buechner. Buechner finished with the fourth-best time for the Boilers, running to a 85th-place finish with a time 27:12.18.
?We have a history of being very good, then average, then very good again,? Poehlein says. ?If that trend stays the way it has, we should be very good at the Big Ten Championships.?
Purdue will be back in action again on Oct. 30, as they travel to State College, Penn., for the cross country Big Ten Championships.