Cornell sophomore newcomer Isaac vanWestrienen turned in a stellar race against elite competition Saturday, placing second out of 158 competitors at the 61st Annual Les Duke Invitational hosted by Grinnell College.
VanWestrienen clocked a quick 8-kilometer time of 25:46, trailing only overall winner Spencer Moon (25:20) of Simpson.
The No. 8 regionally-ranked Rams finished fifth in the tough nine-team field. The meet featured three other regionally-ranked teams in No. 2 Wartburg, No. 5 Central and No. 6 Simpson.
The Rams placed three runners inside the top 20 with junior Gabe Soda crossing in 26:48.21 for 13th place and junior Tyler Bilskie (27:04.85) following in 19th place.
Thomas Coble finished in 55th place (28:34.40), Caleb Schopen (28:53.24) 67th and Fisher Isaacson 71st (29:08.54).
Women’s results
Cornell sophomore Alyza Koppes led the Rams’ pack with a 12th-place finish at the 61st annual Les Duke Invitational hosted by Grinnell College on Saturday.
Koppes set a new personal best in the 6k with a time of 24:33.0 to place in the top 20 out of 101 runners. The Rams placed fifth out of seven teams in a tough competition that consisted of three regionally-ranked teams: No. 5 Simpson, No. 4 Central, and No. 1 Wartburg.
Rounding out Cornell’s pack was Zoe Peesel (28:49.91) in 70th, followed by Sophie Stumbo (28:59.05) and Elinor Ascher-Handlin (29:02.47) in 74th and 75th, respectively. Murray Page ran 29:25.91 to finish 79th and Cari Pickup ran 29:38.59 for 81st. Grace Parises (32:26.64) finished 89th.
Cornell men, women fifth at Les Duke invitational
September 14, 2023