Grand Rapids, MI - The Lawrence Technological University cross country teams competed in the 2021 Knight Rider Invitational on Saturday morning. Out of 10 teams in the meet the LTU men were able to finish in 4th place, while the women finished in 5th out of eight teams. 

In the men's race freshman, Conner Uppleger took the lead after two miles and came up just short of coming in first place by 10 feet. He finished with a time of 26:11 where he moved up to 3rd on the all-time school record list for the 8k. Coming in 8th place in the race was junior, Nolan McGahan with a final time of 26:29. Both men finished in the top 10 to receive an award. For the rest of the team, Gavin Weber finished in 30th with a time of 28:03, Evan Wheeler finished 59th with a time of 29:35, Tyler DeHaan finished in 63rd with a time of 29:55, Xavier Hopkins finished 70th with a time of 30:20, and Nathan Alton finished 71st with a time of 30:20 to round out the top seven finishers for your Blue Devils. There were 101 runners for the men. 

In the women's race, junior Darbey Johnson finished in 8th place with a final time of 19:30. Kaitlin Pickart was the next runner who placed for LTU with a time of 20:09 coming in 14th place which moved her to 3rd place on the all-time list for the 5k distance. For the rest of the team, Jackie Albo finished in 21st with a time of 20:37, Erin McCardell finished in 43rd with a time of 21:30 and the final finisher for the Blue Devils was Michelle Meister who finished in 63rd with a final time of 24:27. There were 77 total runners for the women.  

The men and women's next cross country match is Friday, September 24th in Findley, Ohio for the Findley Invitational. This match will begin at 8 AM.