(October 4, 2008 - Milwaukee, Wisc.) -- Jim Abrams had his best finish of his collegiate career Saturday afternoon at the Wisconsin Lutheran Invitational, as the freshman crossed in the fifth overall spot with a time of 28:08.4 in the men's 8K run in Milwaukee. Abrams (Fr. - Monroe, Mich.) lead a Cardinal effort that produced a second-place team finish, the best since the program was reinstated in 2006.

Zach Shiels of the host Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors was the winner on the men's side with a time of 26:34.03, only a 1:34 ahead of Abrams. While Principia College failed to place a runner in the top five, it was still able to walk away with the team championship. Adrian Dahlin was their highest finisher as he crossed at 28:14.98, good for sixth overall.

Tyler Case (So. - Cedar Springs, Mich.) had his highest finish as a Cardinal as his time of 29:37.50 was good for 24th, with a trio of Concordia runners just a few steps behind. Philip Brown ( Fr. - St. Joseph, Mich.) grabbed the 27th spot with a time of 29:43.56, Ryan Burmeister (Fr. - Muskegon, Mich.) just eight seconds later in the 28th spot (29:51.82) and Michael Haiderer (Sr. - Saginaw, Mich.) grabbing the 32nd spot with a time of 30:15.16.

Zach Nielson (Fr. - New Boston, Mich.) also finished in the top 40 as he crossed at 30:50.81, which earned him the 39th spot, whileMartell Buchanan (Fr. - Detroit, Mich.) finished at 30:52.43, which earned him a 41st place finish. Samuel Bruer finished at 52nd with a time of 31:41.59 with the final Cardinal runner being Steven Lestock (So. - Cumberland, Ohio) , whose time of 35:03.55 gave him the 69th spot out of 77 runners.

All told, the Cardinals finished 3:34 behind Principia for the team championship.

Concordia will have two weeks off before heading a little south to run in the Falcon Invitational at Bowling Green State University on Oct. 18. It will be the second trip to the Falcon campus this season, as the Cards ran in the Mel Brodt Invitational hosted by BGSU in September.

The only two events after the BGSU run will be the WHAC Championships and the NAIA Nationals, both in November.