Storm run well at La Crosse in final tune-up before IIACs

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Ian McKenzie finished in the top-25 to lead the Simpson men's cross country team to a 12th-place finish at the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational Saturday.

The Storm scored 276 points — four points behind the tenth-ranked team in the region, Central — with all of their top seven clocking in top-100 team-place finishes. Simpson finished behind six regionally ranked teams and ahead of seventh-ranked Grinnell (19th)

McKenzie finished the 8k course in 25:53.34 to place 22nd, followed by Trey Thompson (39th) in 26:10.84 and Jonathan Facio (60th) in 26:28.85. The trio finished 1, 2, 3 for the Storm in the second straight meet.

Coach Speak
"Today was another step forward for our men's program. We competed very well against many of the top teams in our region. Our two seniors had outstanding races. Ian McKenzie was solid up front and Kyle Hovey had a huge breakthrough." — head coach Heath Moenck

Storm Varsity Finishers
22. Ian McKenzie, 25:53.34
39. Trey Thompson, 26:10.84
60. Jonathan Facio, 26:28.85
83. Kyle Hovey, 26:47.72
118. Levi Lefebure, 27:14.97
126. Tyler Combs 27:23.68
128. Seth Nostrala, 27:28.65

Up Next
The Storm have the week off to prepare for the Iowa Conference Championships hosted in Waverly on Saturday, Oct. 28. The women's race is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the men to follow at Noon.