Elmhurst, Ill. – Lewis University sophomore Scott Tanis (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) placed 16th overall at the Elmhurst Earlybird Invitational with a team-best time of 20:01, helping the Flyers to a seventh-place finish on Friday evening.

 

Lewis head men’s cross country coach Dana Schwarting cited the loss of both Rigoberto Bernal (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) and Seth Schultz (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood) to mid-race injuries as the biggest factor in the Flyers’ performance on Friday.

 

"Our front runners ran real well, but now we need to get our number four through seven runners to pick it up,” Schwarting said. “This was a really good meet to get under our belts even though we had some people battle injuries and colds today.”

 

North Central won the meet with 15 points, followed by Wheaton (58), North Central Freshmen (120), St. Francis (148), Illinois Tech (167), Elmhurst (174), Lewis (185), Judson (193), Trinity Christian (301), Concordia (306), Oakton (326), Aurora (345), North Park (348) Morton (360), Benedictine (396), College of DuPage (494) and Dominican (497).

 

Lewis sophomore Rocky Medero (River Grove, Ill./Guerin Prep) was the second Flyer to cross the finish line with a 27th-place mark of 20:26. Freshman harrier Thomas Campbell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway West) followed Medero with a 38th-place finish of 20:39. Fellow freshman Jacob Hansen (Waukegan, Ill./St. Joseph’s) was the fourth Flyer to finish with a mark of 22:30, followed by John Deutsch (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) who crossed the tape in 22:17. 

 

The Flyers are back in action next Friday, as they travel to Peoria, Ill., to participate in the Bradley Open at 5:30 p.m.