In his first race this season, junior Sal Impelliterri placed fourth to lead the men's cross country in Friday's Bronco Invitational at Three Rivers, Mich.
Impelliterri, who had been nursing a leg injury, crossed the line in 26:06.
The meet consisted of two races. Impelliterri led the team in the 8,000-meter race. There was also a 4,000-meter race.
Sophomore Zach Scherer was the top Cardinal in the 4K, finishing in 12:52 and placing fourth. No team scores were kept at the meet. The other schools competing were host IPFW, Notre Dame, Western Michigan and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"It was definitely a step in the right direction," head coach Jim Sprecher said. "It compares well to where we should be. If our guys are down in the 26-minute range, that's where we need to be for championship season."
Junior Steve Samuel backed Impelliterri in the 8K race by taking seventh with a time of 26:13. Freshman Jesse Davis, who has led the team in most races with Impelliterri out, was right behind Samuel, clocking in at 26:21. Also competing were freshman Kyle Hinkelman (13th, 26:53), sophomore Michael Olson (16th, 27:03), senior Terry Goodspeed (17th, 27:09) and freshman Nick Stoffel (21st, 27:52).
"I was really glad to see Sal up there for his first time," Sprecher said. "Steve Samuel's been running second, and we need him up there. Jesse was solid again, and it was nice to see Kyle contribute."
In the 4K it was all sophomores for Ball State; Scherer was joined by Steve Schilling (fifth, 12:56) and Alan Hemmelgarn (seventh, 13:06).
"It was good for some young guys to step up and have success in that distance, since they're more suited for it," Sprecher said of the 4K.
Sprecher also expressed pleasure in how his team competed with perennial Mid-American Conference power Western Michigan.
"We did a good job of mixing it up with Western," he said. "Our guys were up there with them and breaking up their packs."
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