CROSS COUNTRY

Junior transfer Hannah Stoffel made history Saturday morning as the first HU athlete to earn a national title in cross country. She ran away from the competition at the 2019 NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships to claim the individual title in 17:18.4 – nearly 16 seconds ahead of second place finisher Emily Kearney of SCAD Atlanta.

Stoffel can also claim bragging rights as the first female NAIA National Champion in Forester history.

The All-American Stoffel wasn’t the only Forester to garner national recognition as teammate Molly Mitchell finished 17th out of 340 runners by clocking in at 18:26.4 to also earn an All-American badge. For Mitchell, it’s her second All-American honor with her first coming last spring in track as a member of the 4×800 meter relay team.

The pair guided their team, seeded 16th overall, to a 10th place finish with 339 points. Not only did they outrun their seeding, they also made program history as 10th place is the highest finish of any Huntington women’s cross country team at nationals.

Saige Norris came in next for Johnson’s crew in 19:11.4 to finish in the 59th spot. Mara McFarland navigated the course in 19:51.9 for 124th place while Olivia Von Gunten rounded out Huntington’s scoring by clocking in at 20:00.4 for 140th place.

Isabel Hunter wasn’t too far back at 20:20.3 to finish 166th. Erin Manchess crossed the line in 21:19.8 for 212th place.

“Hannah executed her race plan perfectly,” said Coach Nick Johnson. “Molly ran an exceptional race as well to earn her first individual All-American honor.

“Saige did a great job navigating herself through the crowded field. The next four ladies did exactly what they needed to do to secure their top 10 finish. Today the ladies capped off an amazing transformation by going from tenth in our conference to tenth in the nation in two years.”

Johnson already looks forward to this spring. “The women now set their sights towards rewriting the record books this track season.”

Three Crossroads League teams were represented in the top ten in this morning’s women’s race.

On the men’s side, Huntington claimed 17th overall with 477 points behind freshmen Haile Stutzman (25:56.7) and Kent Yoder (25:57.7) who finished within two spots of each other with a 46th and 48th place finish respectively.

Elijah Chesterman posted a 26:42.2 good for 114th place. Adrien Gentie turned in a 26:47.3 for the 120th spot. Aaron Hendryx rounded out HU’s scoring by clocking in at 27:04.8 to finish 149th. Other runners for the Foresters included Nick Childs (187th, 27:43.9) and Matthew Hyter (192nd, 27:48.4).

“It was a disastrous race for three of our top five men that probably cost us a historic finish,” said Johnson. “Kent ran exceedingly well to achieve the second-best freshman finish in HU history. Unfortunately, the men had to learn some very hard lessons today, but I am hopeful that they use this experience to take themselves to the next level.”

Four Crossroads League teams were represented in the top 20 of today’s men’s race.

As a program, HU finished 9th nationally as a combined team.