With temperatures in the upper 80s before the meet even started, head coach David Uhrich's utmost concern was that his athletes make it through the meet without any injuries. So when the men's cross country team finished the race with everyone in good physical condition and also captured the victory, it was an added bonus.

"I was nervous about how hot and humid it was," Uhrich said. "I wanted to win, but without endangering anyone on the team. It's nice to start the season on a good note."

This year's Bradley Open looked much like last year's as the Marquette Golden Eagles swept the men's 8K for the second consecutive year Friday afternoon at Detweiller Park in Peoria, Ill.

If the way a team performs at its first competition is any indication of what is to come, then the men's cross country team can look forward to a succesful season.

The Golden Eagles finished the race with 33 total points to claim the team title. Cross-town rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee placed second with 52 points.

Sophomore Kyle Saginus won the men's 8K, clocking in at 25:01.

Saginus is the second straight Marquette runner to take top honors, following senior Brent Des Roches' title last year.

"I was extremely impressed with Kyle that he could run that fast when it was that hot," Uhrich said. "He beat some top runners."

"Everyone was running in the same conditions," Saginus said. "No one had an advantage over me. Winning the meet was a confidence booster. It was a good indicator of the shape that I'm in and the caliber of our team."

Along with Saginus' win, Marquette had strong finishes from sophomore Josh Pinter in seventh place with a time of 25:43, senior David Henderson in 15th place with a time of 26:23 and freshman Drew Craig took 22nd place with a time of 26:38.

While the team is more than encouraged by the Bradley Open results, it is not Marquette's prerogative to win each and every competition this season.

As the Golden Eagles begin competing against much better teams in the next few weeks, it helps that they have confidence, not to mention talent, on their side.

"We'll be in Minnesota in two weeks running against better teams," Uhrich said. "We aren't necessarily looking to win, but to be competitive.

"We're going to be going against 20 or 30 teams and even if we are beaten by five or six of them, we're still doing a good job."

Marquette will get a taste of national competition at the Roy Griak Invitational, Sept. 24, in Minneapolis, Minn. The Griak Invitational annually draws some of the top teams in the nation.

"Our team is just going to take this season one meet at a time and try to improve with each race," Saginus said. "Conference is important this year and we need to be competitive and perform at a higher level as a team."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 13, 2005.