Ole head coach Bill Thornton, a Kansas alumnus, has traditionally taken a small group of top runners to Lawrence, Kan. every spring to run at his alma mater. The high-profile event celebrated its 78th anniversary this year and annually features top athletes from around the country. Thirty-nine Olympians competed this year, including gold medalists Maurice Greene and Marion Jones.

Malcolm Richards ‘05 proved his national mettle in the 5000 meter run, eclipsing several Division I and Division II athletes with a fifth place finish in 15:02.39. A strong headwind was all that prevented the Ole veteran from obtaining a personal record time.

Tony Hoff ‘07 also performed well against the stiff competition, as the distance runner came in seventh in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 32:44.76.

Peter Cathcart ‘06, the team’s top thrower, parlayed his 50 foot, 10 1/4 inch throw in the shot put into a seventh-place finish.

While a few of the team’s top athletes competed in Kansas, the rest of the men’s squad made the journey across the river to Carleton Saturday. The Oles finished 14th among the 16 teams with 17 points, but still turned in a number of notable performances.

Jesse Horst ‘06 was the squad’s top finisher overall, as his time of 1:59.68 in the 800 meter run was good enough for fifth place. David Stoy ‘05 took sixth in the 10,000 and Jason Roberts took fifth in the long jump.

The Ole “B” relay of Sam Hauck ‘06, David Swanson ‘08, Marc Ellingson ‘06 and John Lamppa ‘07 had a third place finish in the 4 x 1600 meter relay.

“We were missing a few guys but still ran some tough races,” Lamppa said.

The men’s team does double duty once again, as they will compete in both the Drake Relays (Thursday through Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa) and the St. John’s Invite in Collegeville, Minn. this week.

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