WAVERLY – Junior Isaac vanWestrienen made an impactful return to Cornell's lineup Saturday, claiming runner-up honors against a strong field at Wartburg's John Kurtt Invitational.
 
VanWestrienen, a 2023 NCAA qualifier who sat out last week's opener, came within 1.2 seconds from winning his first race of the fall. He beat all runners from Wartburg's No. 2 nationally-ranked squad except Tyler Schermerhorn.
 
VanWestrienen covered the 6K Max Cross Country Course in 18:08, four seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.  
 
The No. 7 regionally-ranked Rams placed second in the team race with 46 points. Wartburg posted a winning score of 19 points.
 
Senior Gabe Hunt was the second Ram to finish, taking 11th in 18:44. Fisher Isaacson placed 16th in 18:53.
 
The Rams had a quartet of runners finish No. 27-30 with Noah Lutzke (19:11), Tyler Bilskie (19:12), Gabe Soda (19:13) and Caleb Schopen (19:15). Isaak Hutchings was 35th (19:27).
 
Coming up – The Rams compete Sept. 21 at the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.