CROSS COUNTRY

Up against a number of NCAA Division I schools, the Forester women’s cross country team had a solid showing Friday night at the Jenna Strong 5K Classic hosted by Wilmington College. They far outran their seeding to finish 12th out 35 teams with a total team time of 1:41.34.

The two front runners for Johnson’s crew were Aspen Dirr and Saige Norris. Dirr slipped under the 19-minute barrier by running a 18:59.9, 73 seconds faster than her last race, to claim 22nd out of 223 runners. Norris beat her PR by nearly a minute by clocking in at 19:15.7 for 28th place.

Olivia Von Gunten turned in a 20:56.4 to claim the 97th spot. Bianca Tisdale ran a 21:09.1 to take 104th and Mara McFarland had a breakout race, shaving over three minutes off her time from last meet, to round out HU’s scoring with a 106th place finish in 21:12.1.

Other runners for Huntington included Molly Mitchell (129th, 21:44.9) and Lauren Craig (132nd, 21:49.3).

“I am really pleased with our results tonight,” said Johnson. “The ladies did a fantastic job. They ran exceedingly well with Aspen and Saige leading the way. Mara’s performance was also a highlight on the women’s side.”

Ball State won the women’s race with 48 points. Rounding out the top five included Northern Kentucky (61), Cleveland State (135), Miami (OH) (164) and Ohio Northern (206).

In the men’s 8K, Huntington finished 13th out of 36 teams. Leading the way for HU was Kevin Moser who clocked in at 26:39.2 for 53rd place out of 241 runners. His average mile time was a 5:21.8. Nick Childs came in second for the Foresters by finishing in 27:15.7 for 77th place.

Posting a time of 27:28.6 for the 91st spot was Aaron Hendryx. Adrien Gentie ran a 27:35.7 to be the 100th runner to cross the line while Elijah Chesterman posted a time of 28:02.6 to round out HU’s scoring with 115th place.

Other runners for the Foresters included Kody Ahrens (121st, 28:12.3) and Luke Zeddis (135th, 28:29.9).

Topping the men’s race was Miami (OH) with 58 points with the other top four finishers including Shawnee State (86), Northern Kentucky (113), Ohio Northern (131) and Wooster (200).

“Just like the women, the men far exceeded their seeding tonight,” noted Johnson. “They competed really well and finished almost seven minutes faster as a team than our last meet.

“Seven women and five men had PRs tonight. Both teams are striding in the right direction. We’re getting to the point where this is what we trained for – the championship season. It’s all about putting it together at the right time and we’re on pace to do that.”

The Foresters have one more meet, the Great Lakes Challenge next weekend, before the Crossroads League Championships slated for November 3.