CROSS COUNTRY

Huntington University senior Aspen Dirr ran a brilliant race at the Crossroads League Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon to finish 4th overall, earn her third All-Conference honor and most importantly punch her ticket to the NAIA National Championships later this month.

It will be the veteran harrier’s third time to compete nationally. She is just the third runner in women’s program history to qualify as an individual at least three times for the big stage.

Dirr clocked in at a season-best 18:40.0 and her finish was amongst a slew of Taylor runners as she broke up their perfect score. The Trojans, ranked 2nd in the nation, captured the CL crown with 17 points. Dirr was sandwiched between TU’s top three runners and their next three.

Saige Norris came in next for the Foresters to finish 26th in 19:53.2. HU’s next five runners ran within eight spots of each other. Mara McFarland posted a time of 21:24.6 for the 54th spot. Olivia Von Gunten claimed 55th in 21:28.5.

Molly Mitchell (21:38.5) and Isabel Hunter (21:49.2) also finished within a place of each other at 57th and 58th respectively. Hunter, despite the less-than-ideal course conditions, ran a PR.

Other runners for Huntington included Lauren Craig (61st, 22:02.4), Rachael Smelser (22:50.5), Erin Manchess (23:12.5) and Bianca Tisdale (DNF).

“This was a great race for Aspen,” said Coach Johnson. “We’re obviously she qualified for nationals.

“Unfortunately, Bianca wasn’t able to finish race. I think we could have finished a spot or two higher had she been healthy but overall, I’m pleased with how we ran today.”

As a team, the Foresters finished 8th. Their average time was 20:36.

Indiana Wesleyan finished second behind Taylor with 67 points followed by Mount Vernon (118), Spring Arbor (125), Bethel (138), Saint Francis (159), Marian (178), HU (196), Goshen (254) and Grace (291).

On the men’s side, Adrien Gentie ran a great race for Johnson’s crew to earn his first All-Conference badge by finishing 15th overall out of 134 runners in 27:26.9. There’s an outside chance he will get an at-large bid to Nationals to be determined on Monday.

Aaron Hendryx finished next for the Foresters by running a 27:59.8 for 28th place. Nick Childs took 33rd with a time of 28:09.1. Kevin Moser was 36th by clocking in at 28:16.9. In the 47th spot was Luke Zeddis in 28:59.7.

Other runners for HU included Kody Ahrens (61st, 29:21.3), CJ Robertson (62nd, 29:28.2), Elijah Chesterman (29:35.2) and Cody Feisel (31:17.2).

As a team, Huntington claimed 5th with 159 points and a total time of 2:20.52. It’s the men’s highest finish in the league meet since 2012 when they took also took 5th after claiming the conference championship the previous year.

“Adrien had a great performance,” said Johnson. “A pair of freshmen in Aaron and Luke also had great races today. Kevin as our top runner and Elijah as our fifth man struggled which affected our team scoring but overall I’m excited about the direction our program is heading.

“Both teams significantly improved from last year’s finish at the conference meet. Both squads finished two spots higher which is notable since the conference is considerably better overall this year with multiple ranked teams, including two in the top five.”

Indiana Wesleyan ran away with the men’s title with 18 points followed by Taylor (79), Goshen (103), Marian (143), HU (159), Grace (168), Spring Arbor (173), Saint Francis (184), Mount Vernon (194) and Bethel (254).