Running on a soggy, windy afternoon Friday in Notre Dame, Ind., the Valparaiso men’s cross country team placed 18^th in the Gold division of the Notre Dame Invitational.

Valpo registered 555 points on Friday afternoon for its 18^th place showing and outran fellow Horizon League squad Green Bay.  Grand Valley State captured the team championship with 45 points, while Windsor’s Matt Walters turned in a time of 24:54 to take top individual honors.

The Crusaders were paced on Friday by senior Nick Fagan (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore), who placed 106^th with a time of 27:05.  Junior Wally Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) followed close behind Fagan, covering the circuit in 27:13, good for a 110^th place finish.

Freshman Eric Hickok (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) was the next Valpo runner across the line, finishing in 132^nd place with a time of 27:48.  The Crusaders’ last two scoring runners crossed the line back-to-back, as senior Jordan Piaskowy (Crete, Ill./Illiana Christian) ran a time of 28:04 to finish 137^th and sophomore Kiefer Heiman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) followed right behind Piaskowy in 138^th, posting a time of 28:13.

Valparaiso returns to action in two weekends, making the trip downstate to run at the Evansville Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15.  Action on the 15^th is slated for a 10 a.m. CDT start.