CROSS COUNTRY

Freshman Addy Wiley and senior Haile Stutzman headlined the NAIA National Cross Country Championships Friday morning for Huntington by taking second and third in their respective race at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee (Fla.).

The HU cross country program, in their fourth straight trip to the big dance, had a strong showing with the #12 Forester men’s team outrunning their seeding by taking tenth and the 12th-ranked women finishing 13th.

As the NAIA national runner-up, Wiley clocked in at 16:58 in the women’s 5K. Sophomore Shelby Christman clipped a handful of runners in the final 25 meters to take 20th-place in 17:53. Both were deemed All-Americans for their top 40 finish. For Christman, it’s her second piece of XC All-American hardware having earned the designation last year as the program’s first freshman to do so.

Senior Carmen Trier was next for Roark’s crew with her 93rd-place finish in 19:04 which ties her personal best. Sophomore Abby Mays navigated the course in 19:35 for 144th place. Closing out HU’s scoring was sophomore Emily Tedder who took 164th in 19:49. A pair of freshmen in MacKenzie Brewer (19:51*PR) and Amelia Strzechowski (21:23) made their nationals debut by finishing 170th and 235th respectively.

“Addy ran a great race to finish as runner-up; and my hats off to Lina May from William Carey for taking the race out fast and never falling back,” said Roark. “That was a battle between those two women.”

As a team, the Foresters posted a point total of 423 and a total time of 1:33:20.80 for an 18:40 average.

Taylor ran away with the women’s title with 50 points. Rounding out the top ten included Milligan (177), College of Idaho (201), St. Francis (Ill.) (203), Cornerstone (211), The Master’s (230), St. Mary (251), Dordt (315), Southern Oregon (357) and Grace (363).

The only other CL team to compete was IWU who finished 12th, one spot ahead of HU, with 417 points.

On the men’s side, Stutzman had a banner race. The Silverton (Ore.) native is leaving his mark on the program with his third-place time of 24:05 which proves a new HU record.

Senior Kent Yoder also ran a great race to finish 22nd in 24:42. The pair was tabbed All-Americans. It was Stutzman’s second NAIA badge and Yoder’s third. Yoder is just the second Forester to rack up three All-American honors in cross country with John Ngure the only other HU harrier to do so.

Although 37th in the scoring, junior Reece Gibson missed out on earning All-American status by four spots with his 44th place overall finish in 24:59. Junior Austin Liepe had the best outing of his collegiate career by turning in a PR of 25:17 for 63rd place. Senior Matthew Hyter rounded out Huntington’s top-five scoring with his 158th finish in 26:25.

Coming in sixth for HU was sophomore Jonah Lemmon with a season-best time of 27:39 for 215th place. Debuting on the big stage was rookie Jackson Robinson who clocked in at 29:15 to land the 230th spot.

As a team, Huntington finished with 283 points. Their average 8K time was 25:05 with their total time 2:05:29.60.

Dordt took home the men’s title with 97 points. Rounding out the top ten included Milligan (115), The Master’s (151), IWU (208), St. Francis (Ill.) (208), Oklahoma City (218), Grace (247), Southern Oregon (278) and HU (283).

Other Crossroads League teams to compete included Taylor (16th, 480), Goshen (22nd, 507) and Spring Arbor (23rd, 531).

“Both teams had a great showing and performance in a very fast national championship,” noted Roark. “To come away with four All-Americans in a loaded field is a testament to the work and sacrifice those individuals have put in. Haile’s performance is an all-time great for this program and set the tone for the day for our teams.

Roark went on praising his squad. “We walked away from this meet with an NAIA national runner-up, multiple PRs, All-Americans a top-10 men’s team finish and a new program record on the men’s side.

“The grit, sacrifice and determination this team has shown this year is the one thing I will always remember. Facing adversity and tribulation, this team came together and prospered. I am so proud of them, and happy to have seen an incredible conclusion to the cross country season.”

Indoor track and field kicks off on December 3 with the Mastodon Open hosted by Purdue Fort Wayne.