CROSS COUNTRY

The HU cross country program had a strong showing at the Bethel University Invitational over the weekend at St. Patrick’s County Park, site of this year’s Crossroads League championships, where both squads took second.

Junior Hannah Stoffel ran away from the competition in the women’s 5K to win her fourth race of the year. The Huntington native navigated the course in 17:32.7 to beat the second-place finisher by more than a minute. Her mile pace was a 5:38.8.

Two other Foresters finished in the top ten. Molly Mitchell claimed 4th out of 217 runners in 18:48.0 while Saige Norris turned in a 19:02.4 for the 7th spot. Mara McFarland ran a 19:31.2 to take 19th overall. Olivia Von Gunten rounded out HU’s scoring with her 37th place finish in 20:05.6. The top five’s average time was an 18:59.

Other runners for Huntington included Isabel Hunter (53rd, 20:30.1), Erin Manchess (65th, 20:44.2), Sydney Kallem (21:20.8), Lauren Craig (21:57.1), Emma St. Peters (22:15.6), Hannah Richer (22:35.6) and Maleah Ruder (23:48.5).

“We ran well today,” said Coach Johnson. “Molly, Mara, Olivia, Isabel, Erin, Emma and Maleah had great breakthrough races.

“Hannah got the job done and is now familiar with the course for the conference championships. Overall, the ladies’ performance showed they’re capable of being a top 15 team in the nation.”

The latest NAIA poll has the Foresters in the 17th spot.

Indiana Wesleyan, ranked 8th nationally, claimed the title out of 20 teams while HU (68), Olivet Nazarene (116) Bethel (126) and Indiana Tech (147) rounded out the top five.

On the men’s side, the 10th-ranked Foresters finished with 64 points for second place out of 16 teams. A pair of freshmen in Haile Stutzman and Kent Yoder paced Johnson’s crew. Among a field of 218 runners, Stutzman raced to second place by clocking in at 25:46.7 for a 5:11.1 per mile average. Yoder clocked in at 26:00.0 for 4th place.

Not too far behind in 11th place was Elijah Chesterman who spent 26:16.2 on the course. Adrien Gentie crossed the line in 26:38.0 for the No. 20 spot. Aaron Hendryx was HU’s fifth runner by claiming 27th in 26:45.9.

Other runners for the Foresters included Nick Childs (39th, 27:08.9), Michael Cheezan (67th, 28:01.3), Kody Ahrens (28:27.5), Tristen Comer (28:48.4), Justin Ayers (29:25.8) and Cody Feisel (30:13.5).

“Some of our men didn’t run to their full potential and that cost us the win, but even with an ‘off day’ we were able to come away with second place,” noted Johnson. “Haile and Kent continue to be great leaders on our team. Nick raced for the first time this year and showed a lot of promise for what he could contribute to the team in the next six weeks of the season.”

No. 7 Olivet Nazarene won the men’s 8K with 43 points followed by HU (64), 15th IWU (76), Marian (123) and 16th Cornerstone (129) making up the top five.

Next up for HU is the Great Lakes Challenge on October 26.