CROSS COUNTRY

The Huntington cross country program closed out the fall with their third straight trip to the NAIA Cross Country Championships where the #9 Forester men’s team matched their ranking by taking ninth and the 19th-ranked women finished 23rd with 539 points.

Elijah Chesterman topped HU with his tenth-place finish in 25:20. The Huntington native was the first Crossroads League competitor to cross the finish line. Kent Yoder came in next for Johnson’s crew by claiming 35th in 25:50. Both were tabbed All-Americans by finishing in top 40. It is their second All-American medal in cross country, a feat only one other Forester in school history can boast.

Haile Stutzman navigated the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course in 26:17 for 60th place. Reece Gibson clocked in at 26:33 for the 77th spot while Austin Liepe rounded out HU’s team score with his 110th-place finish in 26:51. Huntington’s other two runners were Aaron Hendryx (193rd, 27:31) and Matthew Hyter (240th, 27:59).

“Technically we finished what we were seeded but our expectations were much higher than that,” said Coach Lauren Davenport Johnson. “Elijah ran an amazing race. He did exactly what he needed to do the entire race. Unfortunately, Haile fell within the first 800 meters and struggled to get back in it.

“Heading into the final 2K, we were in fourth place but regrettably we just didn’t finish well. This is the race we train for all year but we just didn’t bring it, so we’re disappointed with our performance.”

Milligan took home the national championship with 115 points. Rounding out the top ten included St. Mary (Kan.) (175), Indiana Wesleyan (186), St. Francis (Ill.) (215), College of Idaho (222), Lewis-Clark (239), The Master’s (239), Dordt (245), HU (256) and Oklahoma City (282).

Rookie Shelby Christman made program history as the first freshman to earn All-American honors by claiming 19th in 18:45 to pace HU women’s crew. Sydney Lambert clocked in at 19:21 to take 68th. Making her debut on the big stage, freshman Emily Tedder posted a time of 19:43 to finish 115th.

Carmen Trier was next for the Foresters having finished 263rd in 20:58 while Abby Mays came in a few runners later to snag 269th place in 21:00. Lauren Craig (21:22) and Olivia Von Gunten (21:34) were separated by 12 seconds to finish 290th and 295th respectively.

“Shelby ran well for us up front,” said Johnson. “She started out a little too fast but settled in really well. Sydney was just too far back to start and wasn’t able to make up much ground. Unfortunately, we finished behind our seeding, but we will refocus quickly to prepare for indoor track.”

Milligan also claimed the women’s national title with 122 points. Rounding out the top ten included St. Francis (Ill.) (141), Cornerstone (149), Taylor (164), College of Idaho (183), The Master’s (193), St. Mary (Kan.) (258), Dordt (343), Indiana Wesleyan (389) and Aquinas (400).

Indoor track and field kicks off on December 4 with the Mastodon Open hosted by Purdue Fort Wayne.