Panthers look for another solid team performance in Ames, Iowa, this weekend.

Oct. 6, 1999

MILWAUKEE - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s and women’s cross country teams travel this weekend to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic after taking last week off. The race will be held on Saturday, October 9, 1999, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

The Iowa State course, home of the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships, has brought good fortune to the Panthers in the past, with UWM runner Chad Zehms qualifying for the NCAA Championships there in 1995, which made him the first UWM student-athlete in any sport to qualify for an NCAA individual championship. The Panthers are hoping this luck continues, sending their entire men’s and women’s teams to compete.

On the women’s side, the Panthers will look for a top performance by freshman Abby Hurst (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute HS), who was named the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Runner of the Week for the week of Sept. 27 after leading the Panthers to their fourth consecutive Briggs and Stratton college title on Saturday, Sept. 25, finishing first in the women’s female age 1-18 division and sixth overall in a time of 30:35 on the 8K course.

The Panthers also look to newcomer Brianne Peterson (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth HS), a sophomore transfer from Northern Illinois, to turn in another solid performance after placing ninth at the team’s season opener at the Detroit-Mercy Invite on Sept. 11 in a time of 19:05 on the 5K (3.1 mile) course, leading the women to a third-place finish in a field of nine teams. Peterson did not run the Briggs and Stratton Run.

For the men, junior Aaron Nodolf (Monroe, Wis./Monroe HS) is favored to turn in another top Panther finish after leading UWM at both the Detroit-Mercy Invite and the Briggs and Stratton Run. He finished 14th overall at Detroit in a time of 21:08 on the four-mile course, and finished second in the males ages 19-29 division and fourth overall at the Briggs and Stratton Run, in a time of 25:49 on the 8K course. The team finished fourth in a field of 10 teams at the Detroit-Mercy Invite and first in the Briggs and Stratton College Division.

Senior Matt Finger (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls HS) should also turn in a solid Panther performance at Iowa after finishing behind Nodolf at both Panther outings so far this season, placing 23rd overall in 21:44 at Detroit and fourth in both the 19-29 division and overall at the Briggs and Stratton Run in a time of 26:07.