CROSS COUNTRY

Running on their home turf for the Crossroads League Championships, the 10th-ranked Forester men’s team finished third behind #3 IWU and #5 Taylor while the 18th-ranked HU women took fourth.

In the first race of the morning, Haile Stutzman spent the latter half of the men’s 8K pulling away from the lead pack to claim his second conference individual title and third All-Conference badge. The Silverton (Ore.) native crossed the line in 24:52 to win by eight seconds over second-place finisher Steven Ott of IWU.

Stutzman earned his first CL crown as a rookie by clocking in at 24:51 at St. Patrick’s County Park.

Joining Stutzman as All-Conference picks were Kent Yoder (25:08) and Elijah Chesterman (25:24). Yoder claimed seventh out of the field of 130 runners to earn his second CL honor while Chesterman was two spots back to secure his third straight piece of league hardware.

Reece Gibson navigated the course in 26:11 for 19th place while Austin Liepe rounded out HU’s top five by posting a 26th-place time of 26:22.

Other runners for Huntington included Aaron Hendryx (27th, 26:32), Matthew Hyter (35th, 26:57), Jonah Lemmon (43rd, 27:02), Justin Edwards (97th, 29:09), Isaac Combs (121st, 30:51) and Paul Bickel (124th, 31:16).

“For our guys, there was a sense of disappointment,” said Coach Lauren Davenport Johnson. “As the defending conference champions, they had their sights set on a repeat.

“But overall, it was a good day. If it had been a better day, we could have potentially placed second and a great day could have won us another league title.”

The Taylor men took home the trophy with 46 points followed by IWU (56), Huntington (62), Grace (115), Marian (155), Goshen (169), Spring Arbor (170), Saint Francis (188), Bethel (246) and Mount Vernon (260).

The Forester women landed two runners in the top five with freshman Shelby Christman taking third in 18:39 and Sydney Lambert nabbing fifth in 18:39 out of 127 runners. For Lambert it was her second consecutive conference medal.

Carmen Trier was next for Johnson’s crew in 20:21 to finish 33rd followed by Abby Mays who ran a 20:25 to take 35th. Emily Tedder wrapped up HU’s scoring with her 42nd place finish in 20:43.

Other harriers for HU included Olivia Von Gunten (54th, 21:23), Lauren Craig (59th, 21:32), Shaylynn Reyes (86th, 22:18), Lauren Marsh (97th, 22:47) and Morgann Hart (125th, 28:24).

“Like the men’s team, the women also felt a little disappointed knowing that they missed an opportunity,” noted Johnson. “Coming in, we knew we could finish anywhere from second to fifth depending on how we raced. Hopefully today’s fourth place finish will still put us in the hunt for a spot at nationals.

“Sydney had an amazing race – probably the best I’ve ever seen her run. It was a big race for her and puts her in talks for All-American honors at nationals. Overall, it was a decent day for both sides, but a few pieces here and there could have set us up better. Several teams ran really well and when your conference is one of the best in the nation, you’ve got to bring your A game when it’s championship time.”

Taylor repeated as the Crossroads League champs on the women’s side with 41 points followed by IWU (91), Grace (114), Huntington (118), Saint Francis (132), Mount Vernon (161), Goshen (172), Marian (177), Spring Arbor (202) and Bethel (218).

The 2021 NAIA National Cross Country Championships are slated for November 19 at Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course.