Kauffmann Earns Fourth Career Victory at Duquesne Duals

Sept. 4, 2010

PITTSBURGH- Senior Tommy Kauffmann won his fourth career intercollegiate cross country meet in season opener Duquesne Duals in Pittsburgh. The men’s squad finished second behind host Duquesne. Rookie Ashley Vincent was the top Xavier finisher, crossing in 14th place. The women’s team earned a fifth place finish.

Head coach Dan Flaute was extremely pleased by the effort of his team. “I felt like our teams competed really well today,” Flaute said. “We have good packs in place and we have a good starting point to work with. It was an important test to see how we stack up against other A-10 schools.”

Kauffmann was running in a pack with the top runners from St. Joseph’s and Duquesne. Kauffmann made his move in the last half mile up the last hill to take the lead. “The last half mile was flat on gravel and then it went up a hill,” Kauffmann said. “I figured I’d try to hammer it home for the last bit.” Kauffmann finished in a time of 25:15.

Kauffmann has previously won three other events. His sophomore year he won both the Queen City Invitational and the Hawaii Pacific Invitational. Last season Kauffmann won the Mike Hodges Invitational. The Duquesne Duals were the second 8K meet he has won.

The rest of the scorers for the men’s side were as follows: Junior Keith Albrektson came in ninth with a time of 25:49, rookie Tom Ohlman was not too far behind with a time of 25:52 which earned him 11th place, sophomore Hank Geer earned a 13th place finish with a time of 26:05 and junior Ben Foley came in 16th with a time of 26:10. Senior Ben Nathan was the sixth runner for XU with a time of 26:47 and freshman Chris Hanson ran in 26:54.

The women’s squad earned a fifth place finish. Flaute was pleased with the way the girls ran. “We have a lot of youth in our top seven, but things are looking really good. We had a strong first meet and have the potential to make up a lot of ground.”

Rookie Ashley Vincent was pleasant surprise in her collegiate debut. She ran the 5K race in a time of 18:54 to earn 14th place. What is even more impressive is that Vincent was competing in her first ever competitive 5K. She went to high school in Texas where the cross country distance is two miles. “It was nice to see her come right in as a freshman and contribute,” Flaute said.

Senior Caitlin Thomas was the second finisher for XU, placing 17th with a time of 19:05. Junior Caylin Howell was right behind Thomas with a time of 19:11 and coming in 18th. Sophomores Rachel Clark and Kaitlin Price were the final scorers for the Musketeers with times of 19:18 and 19:30 to earn 22nd and 28th respectively.

Xavier will compete in the Queen City Invitational Saturday, September 11th at Voice of America Park in Cincinnati. Stay tuned to GOXAVIER.com for more information.

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