Hawks Finish Fifth at Gene Davis Invitational

Appleton, WI: The Harper men's cross country team continued its 2026 campaign Saturday at the Gene Davis Invitational, hosted by Lawrence University at Reid Municipal Golf Course, with the Hawks placing fifth out of seven scoring teams in the men's 8K.

Ryan Golden led the way for Harper, placing sixth overall in 26:15.8, while Sebastian Welc followed in 14th at 26:40.3. Mozart Ontiveros was the Hawks' third finisher, placing 61st in 28:24.2.

Golden said he expected the race to unfold similarly to the previous year's meet but found the course more challenging than anticipated as the race progressed.

"Going into the race, I expected it to be like last year, with a fast time. I came through the first mile right on pace for my progression, but in the middle of the race, I didn't realize how much harder the course had become. On top of that, the course was longer. At the end of the day, though, I'm proud that I beat most of the competition," Golden said.

Ontiveros said his focus going into the race was trusting the work he had put in during training rather than worrying about closing the gap between himself and Harper's top two runners.

"Going into the race, I know all the hard work is done, so when I race, I focus on my race and trust the process cuh," Ontiveros said.

Ethan Waddell finished 76th in 28:46.8, while Kevin Martinez and Nestor Sanchez also competed for the Hawks, finishing in 31:50.4 and 34:07.2, respectively. Waddell said he started the race faster than planned and spent the remainder of the race trying to maintain his position.

"I went out a little too fast and was just focusing on maintaining where I was and not falling off too hard," Waddell said.

The Hawks finished with 122 points and an average time of 28:23. St. Norbert took the team title with 46 points, followed by Lawrence with 57 and Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 65.

Welc said he believes the team is continuing to improve as the season progresses and expects stronger performances in the coming weeks.

"I think the team is improving a lot as we get further in the season. I think we should see better performances later on," Welc said.

The Hawks will return to action Friday, October 16, at the Bradley Pink Classic, hosted at Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Illinois. The meet will feature a matchup against Region 4 rival College of DuPage, with Harper entering the competition ranked No. 2 nationally and DuPage ranked No. 1 in the latest USTFCCCA poll.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Ryan Golden: Sophomore

Ethan Waddell: Sophomore

Sebastian Welc: Sophomore

Mozart Ontiveros: Freshman

Kevin Martinez: Freshman

Nestor Sanchez: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ryan Golden
: Sophomore

Ethan Waddell
: Sophomore

Sebastian Welc
: Sophomore

Mozart Ontiveros
: Freshman

Kevin Martinez
: Freshman

Nestor Sanchez
: Freshman