TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Drake senior Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) continued his stellar season for the Drake University cross country team with a second place finish at the adidas Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15.
 
The Pre-National Invitational is an annual preview of the NCAA Championship course for the best men's and women's collegiate cross country runners in the nation in three different races.
 
Competing in the White race, Fischer completed the 8k course in 24:46.3 to finish just nine seconds out of first place. Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich won the race in 24:36.5.
 
"Reed ran with the leader for most of the race and was able to hold off a couple of really good runners during the final mile," said Drake head cross country coach Dan Hostager.
 
Both the men's and women's team faced strong fields with more than 20 teams and as many as 150 runners in each race to give the extremely young Bulldog team valuable experience heading into the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
 
"It was a great opportunity for our team to go up against many of the best teams in the nation," Hostager added. "It will serve us well with the upcoming fall championship season as well as down the road as most of our group had never competed in a meet of this caliber."
 
Junior Bailee Cofer (Overland Park, Kan.) was again the Bulldogs' top women's competitor with a 93^rd place finish in the 6-kilometer White race with a time of 22:59.4. She was followed by four freshmen and a sophomore to complete the Bulldogs' scoring. Freshman Mykaela Cole (Urbandale, Iowa) was the second Drake runner across the line in 101^st place.
 
For the men, Chris Kaminksi (New Lennox, Ill.) was 66^th in 26:16.3 on the 8k course followed by freshmen Kyle Cass (Deforest, Wis.) and Kyle Brandt (Maple Grove, Minn.) in 99^th and 102^nd respectively.
 
In addition to giving the young Bulldogs experience in a big-race atmosphere, the Pre-National Invitational was also the team's final competition before the MVC Championship on Oct. 29 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

2016 adidas Pre-National Invitational
Oct. 15, 2016 – Terre Haute Ind.
Drake Individual Men's Results
8k – 134 runners
2. Reed Fischer, 24:46.3
66. Chris Kaminski, 26:16.3
99. Kyle Cass, 26:48.5
102. Kyle Brandt, 26:50.8
109. Joshua Yeager, 27:01.9
120. Matthew Cozine, 27:30.5
 
Drake Individual Women's Results
6k – 168 runners
93. Bailee Cofer, 22:59.4
101. Mykaela Cole, 23:07.9
142. Morgan Garcia, 23:49.9
150. Olivia Rogers, 24:07.7
151. Meghan Kearney, 24:08.5
162. Paige Nicholson, 24:59.2
 
 
Men's White Race Team Standings
1. OHIO, 132       
2. MIAMI (OHIO), 159
3. CINCINNATI, 178           
4. MONTANA STATE, 212
5. UMKC, 222      
6. CLEMSON, 223               
7. MARQUETTE, 228*      
8. WAKE FOREST, 228*
9. LIBERTY, 235  
10. MOREHEAD STATE, 240
11. UMASS LOWELL, 249
12. OAKLAND, 267            
13. NORFOLK STATE, 273
14. TOLEDO, 320
15. TULANE, 329
16. ARIZONA, 352             
17. QUINNIPIAC, 368        
18. DRAKE, 374  
19. CENTRAL MICHIGAN, 375
20. MURRAY STATE, 483
 
Women's White Race Team Standings
1. OSU, 114         
2. WAKE FOREST, 131
3. NEVADA 166  
4. UTEP 182*      
5. OAKLAND, 182*            
6. MIAMI (OHIO), 236
7. WICHITA STATE, 237
8. CENTRAL MICHIGAN, 241
9. BOWLING GREEN, 254
10. TCU 279
11. MURRAY STATE, 298
12. INDIANA STATE, 299
13. GONZAGA, 300           
14. UTAH VALLEY, 301
15. QUINNIPIAC, 329        
16. WESTERN MICHIGAN, 367
17. NEBRASKA, 381           
18. UC    DAVIS, 399
19. LIBERTY, 410
20. IUPUI, 415    
21. CINCINNATI, 420        
22. OHIO, 516     
23. UMKC, 572   
24. MOREHEAD STATE, 606
25. DRAKE, 632