CROSS COUNTRY

Competing in the annual IWU Twilight Invitational, the Huntington men’s cross country team turned in a 7th place finish while the women’s program took 12th.

On the men’s side, HU’s top four runners finished within 17 seconds of each other. Reece Gibson led the way with his 31st place finish out of a field of 240 runners in 25:58.7. Four spots later, Kent Yoder crossed the line in 26:04.4.

Haile Stutzman made his way to the finish line in 26:10.4 for 36th place while Austin Liepe came in 40th in 26:15.4. Matthew Hyter navigated the course in 26:29.0 for the 47th spot.

Other runners for Huntington included Jonah Lemmon (96th, 28:53.0), Isaac Combs (105th, 29:17.2), Jackson Robinson (184th, 29:22.9), Markis Crosbie (206th, 30:09.3), Tyler Loucks (211th, 20:35.5), Riley Brand (214th, 30:53.8), Andrew Eubank (221st, 31:47.6), Paul Bickel (231st, 32:51.6) and Wyatt Harrington (236th, 33:32.2).

“Our top five men ran this meet as a workout to continue their preparation for the long season ahead,” said Coach Lauren Davenport Johnson. “We had a few key things we wanted to do in this race and they all did their jobs very well.

“Our freshmen got their first shot at tackling the 8K distance. They will continue to develop as they adapt to a new training style and race distance.”

Indiana Wesleyan kept the team title at home with 42 points followed by Cornerstone (91), Grace (111), Aquinas (113), Spring Arbor (140), Taylor (158), HU (189), Goshen (202), Marian (215), Indiana Tech (319), Ohio Christian (322), Campbellsville (375), IU Kokomo (417), Bethel (418), Saint Francis (419), Siena Heights (429), St. Mary-of-the-Wood (436) and Webster (496).

The women’s 5K saw Shelby Christman led the HU pack with a 7th place finish in 18:18.2. Abby Mays came in next for Johnson’s crew in 19:30.8 good for 24th place. Emily Tedder clocked in at 20:32.8 for 63rd place. Amelia Strzechowski turned in an 88th place finish in 21:37.2. Rounding out the scoring for the Foresters was Deann Fry who finished 101st in 22:24.9.

Other finishers for Huntington included Shaylynn Reyes (104th, 22:30.9), Keagan Cole (105th, 24:08.7), Evelyn Sigler (192nd, 26:07.2) and Morgann Hart (193rd, 26:15.2).

“I thought the Twilight race was a good start to our season,” said Johnson. “We did not run some of our top athletes, but we were able to get a better snapshot of where the new runners fit into the picture. This young women’s team will continue to improve throughout the season with the focus on being at our best come postseason time.”

Taylor claimed the women’s title with 32 points followed by Grace (86), Cornerstone (112), IWU (127), Aquinas (175), Campbellsville (210), Saint Francis (213), Indiana Tech (213), Marian (232), Spring Arbor (240), St. Mary-of-the Wood (272), HU (283), Siena Heights (327), IU Kokomo (330) and Bethel (416).

HU runs again on September 17 at the GRCC Raider Invite in Grand Rapids, Mich.