Nowak, Jacobs pace Rams in Decorah

Seniors Chase Nowak and Ben Jacobs both posted top-25 performances to pace the Rams in a deep field at the Luther All-American Invitational Saturday at Oneota Golf and Country Club.

Nowak, coming off a season-opening victory at Dubuque Sept. 1, led the Rams with an eighth-place finish in a large men's division that featured 17 teams and 279 total runners. He covered the four-mile layout in 20 minutes, 44 seconds, posting the second-fastest time among five Iowa Conference schools.

Jacobs came in 25th overall with a time of 21:13, only two seconds out of the top 20.

"The meet at Luther was a mixed bag for our men," Cornell head coach Dan Schofer said. "Chase Nowak did a nice job for us up front, and I thought Ben Jacobs battled well despite not having his best day."

Cornell finished in a tie with Luther for seventh place in the team standings. The Rams totaled 220 points, 59 ahead of Coe in ninth.

Freshman Jacob Butts was the third Ram to finish, placing 81st in 22:26. Freshman Lawrence Dennis took 92nd in 22:38. Senior David Kuhlmann was the team's fifth and final scorer, placing 111th in 22:50.

Sophomore CJ Horan (120th, 23:00), senior Chris Stadler (121st, 23:01) and junior Jordan Kemme (125th, 23:03) represented the next group of Rams.

"The rest of our pack (behind Nowak and Jacobs) was too far back, but I know that is something we will improve," Schofer said. "We have good competition within our team and good depth in the 3-10 range. I know we will get a little stronger each week as our training progresses and our younger runners gain experience."

UW-La Crosse nipped Augustana, 66-67, for the team title. Hamline's Jack Deichert was the top finisher in 20:34.

The Rams return to competition Sept. 23 at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational in Rock Island, Ill. The men's race starts at 6 p.m.