Nowak wins for third straight year at Dubuque

Cornell senior Chase Nowak pulled off the cross country hat trick in posting his third consecutive title at the Spartan Opener Thursday at the University of Dubuque Soccer Complex.

Nowak led the Cornell men to the team championship with 24 points. The Rams placed five runners in the top eight and fielded nine of the first 14 finishers.

The Rams scored a nine-point victory over Iowa Conference foe Coe. Dubuque finished third with 85 points.

"It was nice to get the rust out and compete for the first time this season," Cornell head coach Dan Schofer said. "This has always been a low-key meet, and with the extreme heat (Thursday), I think most runners were less aggressive than they would have been otherwise."

Nowak covered the short 3K course in 9 minutes, 29.7 seconds. Senior teammate Ben Jacobs came in second with a time of 9:36.6.

"Chase and Ben did a nice job of running together and pushing a bit at the end," Schofer said. "They have been leading by example for the last two weeks of our team's training."

The Rams received strong showings from their underclassmen, which helped nail down the team victory. Freshman Jacob Butts placed seventh (10:13.5), just ahead of sophomore CJ Horan in eighth (10:14.6) and freshman Charlie Mesimore in ninth (10:17.0). Freshman Lawrence Dennis was the next Ram to finish, taking 11th (10:18.7).

"We have some depth behind (Nowak and Jacobs), so it is hard to tell who from that group will emerge into varsity roles this fall," Schofer said. "All four of our freshmen men are mixing it up with our returners, and I expect that dynamic to help make our team even stronger."

Cornell is back in action Sept. 10 at the Luther All-American Invitational in Decorah. The men's race begins at 11:45 a.m.

Team captains - Coach Schofer announced earlier this week his 2011 men's team captains in Adam Rooyakkers, Nowak and Jacobs. All three senior runners have earned all-region honors during their careers.