ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville cross country teams put together strong marks at the Augustana (Ill.) Interregional Invite on Saturday at the Sauke Golf Course in Rock Island, Illinois. The No. 14 men's team placed sixth out of 36 times, finishing ahead of other ranked teams, while the women took 33rd out of 40 teams
.
Men's Highlights
The duo of junior Zachary Sporaa and senior Caden Schneider powered the men's team to a sixth-place finish in the 8K race. Both ran season-best times, with Sporaa placing 16th overall in 24:47.1 and Schneider taking 18th in 24:48.2.

The Pioneers totaled 255 points to earn the sixth-place finish, placing ahead of several other ranked teams, including one-spot ahead of No. 15 UW-Stevens Point (258 points). UW-Platteville also finished ahead of No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer, who placed eighth with 260 points.

Junior Maxwell Sporaa was the third UW-Platteville finisher, as he ran a time of 25:34.7 to take 68th place. Rounding out the top five were junior Paul Pfeifer and sophomore Maxwell Voss, with both running season-best times as well. Pfeifer placed 82nd in 25:46.4, while Voss was right on his heels in 25:46.7 for 84th.

Senior Joshua Stone placed 105th in 25:56.7 to cross the line as the Pioneers sixth finisher. Wrapping up the top seven was junior Matt Tippel, who ran a personal-best of 26:08.5 to earn a 131st-place finish.

Women's Highlights
Junior Megan Hageman was the women's top finisher, as she ran a season-best time of 23:23.8 in the 6K race to place 99th overall. As a team, the Pioneers moved up throughout the race, climbing up seven spots from the initial mile scores to the final results.

Senior Avery Brown was next, running a 24:27.7 to come in 209th overall. Just a couple spots later was sophomore Cailtin Wirth, who placed 212th with a season-best of 24:31.0. Freshman Cecilia Skalsky crossed the line about seven seconds later with a time of 24:38.8 to place 220th, while freshman Alexa Leonard rounded out the top five runners with a season-best time of 24:54.5 for 242nd.

Junior Ava Garrard ran a personal-best time of 25:11.3 to finish 264th as the sixth Pioneer runner on the day. The final member of the top seven was junior Kendra Downing, who took 274th with a time of 25:20.8.

Up Next
The Pioneers will run next Friday at the UW-Oshkosh Open.