Newcomer Chris Honig (Waupaca, Wis./Glenbard South, Ill.) paced the Valpo pack at the Crusader Invitational Friday afternoon at Sunset Hills Farm in Valparaiso, Ind., leading the Brown and Gold to a third place finish.

Honig, who ran at Indiana last season, started his Crusader career with a time of 19:31 over the 6K course, finishing fifth overall and fourth among scored racers. The sophomore finished only seven seconds behind top collegiate finisher Malachi Cate of UW-Milwaukee and 14 seconds behind race winner Eric Ade.

Junior Michael Brouch (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) led the next pack of Crusaders in 14th place, finishing in 20:06. Ten seconds later, Jim Turchyn (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) crossed the tape in 16th and Rich Krupar III (Elyria, Ohio/Midview) came in 18th in 20:21.

Jordan Stanfill (Goshen, Ind./Goshen), Josh Parker (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) and Leandro Schultz (Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) were the final three scoring Crusaders, finishing 23rd, 26th and 29th respectively.

Valpo finished with 71 points, just three behind future Horizon League foe UW-Milwaukee. Notre Dame won the event with only 28 points, placing five runners in the top eight. The Crusaders did check in ahead of another Horizon League team, UW-Green Bay, who came in fourth with 112 points. IPFW and Saint Joseph's (Ind.) rounded out the field.

The Brown and Gold will be back in action one week from today at the Indiana Intercollegiates in Terre Haute, Ind. The men's 8K race is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.

race results