CROSS COUNTRY

The HU cross country program was back in action this weekend for the 14th annual NAIA Great Lakes Challenged hosted by Aquinas College at Riverside Park. Freshman Addy Wiley won the women’s 5K to lead the HU women to a fifth place finish while the Huntington men’s squad took fourth.

Wiley ran a personal best 16:57.60 to run away from the competition as 23 seconds passed between her the next finisher. Shelby Christman also ran an excellent race to take 8th in 17:47.70. Abby Mays finished 45th among the field of 214 runners by clocking in 18:52.70.

Running for the first time this fall, Carmen Trier came in 12 seconds later in 19:04.80 to place 50th. Rounding out HU’s top five was Emily Tedder who navigated the course in 19:50.80 for the 98th spot. The Foresters’ top five times totaled 1:32:51.60.

Mackenzie Brewer, in her collegiate debut, ran a 20:16.00 for 122nd place. Other runners for Huntington included Amelia Strzechowski (151st, 20:59.10), Shaylynn Reyes (194th 21:38.80), Deann Fry (204th 22:31.60) and Morgann Hart (212th 24:01.10).

As a team, the #17 Forester women posted a score of 202 for their fifth place finish, beating three teams with a  higher ranking. Of the 25 teams who ran in the Maroon race, 16 were either in the Top 25 or receiving votes.

Taylor, who took home the team title, was the only Crossroads League team to finish ahead of the Foresters. Other CL schools to compete included IWU (6), Grace (7), Marian (13), Goshen (16) and Saint Francis (17) and Mount Vernon (24).

The #2 Trojans finished with 46 points. Rounding out the top five included #3 St. Mary (Kan.) (126), #7 Cornerstone (129), #4 St. Francis (Ill.) (161) and #17 HU (202).

The men’s 8K was also stacked with 19 of the 28 teams ranked nationally or receiving votes. The #12 Foresters were paced by Kent Yoder who crossed the line 8th out of 239 runners in 24:41.80. Haile Stutzman came in next for HU in 24:59.60 good for 16th place.

A nine-second gap separated Stutzman and Reece Gibson who turned in a 25:08.10 for 23rd place. Austin Liepe ran a PR to finish 38th in 25:26.70. Matthew Hyter, who also turned in a personal best, rounded out Huntington’s score with his 89th place finish in 26:22.80.

Huntington’s top five times totaled 2:06:38.90.

Other runners for HU included Jonah Lemmon (179th, 28:04.60), Jackson Robinson (189th 29:04.90), Riley Brand (235th 30:31.60) and Tyler Loucks (236th 30:41.40).

Among their league peers, only IWU finished in front of the Foresters while Grace (5), Taylor (6), Spring Arbor (10), Goshen (15), Marian (20) and Mount Vernon (24) also ran in the Maroon race.

IWU won the team title with 88 points while St. Francis (Ill.) (108), St. Mary (Kan.) (165), #12 HU (173) and Grace (187) rounded out the top five.

“Overall, I’m very excited about the positive direction for our team this weekend,” said Coach Austin Roark. “Both teams ran great races to place high among some fantastic teams. I’m hoping this gives us a boost in confidence and in the national rankings. Conference should be a great race.

“Congrats to Addy on a big personal best. She looked great and comfortable in the win. Kent also ran a phenomenal race. We got personal bests from Carmen and Mackenzie. Overall, we had some really great individual performances.”

HU has a few weeks off before competing in the Crossroads League Championships slated for November 4.