MADISON, Wis. – The University of Iowa cross country squads competed at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational Saturday, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.  The men's squad placed fifth overall in the 8,000-meter race with 176 points and were led by freshman Jeff Thode, who placed second overall with a collegiate-best mark of 23:55 that ranks seventh all-time at Iowa.  In the women's 5,000-meter race, Iowa placed sixth with 157 points with sophomore Brooke Eilers leading the Hawkeyes with a tenth-place finish of 17:31. 

Along with Thode, senior Jesse Luciano had a strong individual performance, finishing 14th with a season-best finish of 24:17.  The rest of Iowa's top seven, who all earned season-best times, were junior Mark Battista (45th, 25:07), senior Tommy Tate (53rd, 25:20), sophomores James Paul (62nd, 25:28) and Chase Kadlec (64th, 25:30), and senior Jay Renaud (74th, 26:02). 

"It was our best team performance of the year," said Men's Head Coach Larry Wieczorek.  "We finished just a few points behind Arkansas and finished with some tough teams.  In addition to our good team effort, I was impressed by some strong individual performances, especially Thode and Luciano."

 Along with Eilers, the women's top seven finishers were graduate student Megan Lessard (28th, 17:49), sophomore Betsy Flood (36th, 17:53), juniors Lauren Hardesty (41st, 17:56) and Amanda Hardesty (42nd, 17:59), sophomore McKenzie Melander (48th, 18:08), and senior Fionna Fallon (53rd, 18:14). 

"Overall I thought it was a solid outing," said Women's Head Coach Layne Anderson. "There were some good things that I think we can build on.  I was very pleased in their efforts.  It would have been nice to place a little higher as a team, but I'm confident moving forward.  So tomorrow, it's back to work preparing for the next few weeks."

Both teams will be preparing for the Pre-NCAA Invite on October 17 held at Indiana State University at Terre Haute, Ind.