In the men’s race, Malone College, the top-ranked team in the NAIA, cruised to its fifteenth straight AMC title with a total of 24 points to top Cedarville University (69 points), NAIA No. 12 Shawnee State University (70 points), and host Walsh (84 points). MVNU finished sixth in the 12-team race with 219 points after finishing 10th a year ago.

Individually, Ryan Kienzle of Malone won the eight-kilometer race in a time of 24:39.2 to beat teammate Aaron Melhorn by just over 38 seconds. MVNU sophomore Mark Porostosky (left) covered the course in a time of 26:44.7 to finish 17th out of 127 runners and become the first Cougar to earn AMC Honorable Mention status. Freshman Chaz Rice (39th, 27:57.2), freshman Zach Stiverson (68th, 29:09.1), sophomore Zach Tuggle (69th, 29:13.3), senior Tim Grubb (84th, 29:50.1), freshman David Clark (101st, 30:56.9), and sophomore Dustin Wine (106th, 31:11.6) rounded out the scoring on MVNU’s stellar day.

“The men’s team has battled through injuries all season, but today these guys were able to put it all together as a team,” said MVNU head coach Chip Wilson. “We have seen some great individual performances, and late in the year the team has begun to run and finish well as a team. We set a goal for the team to finish in the top half of the conference, and they earned that sixth-place finish.”

“Mark ran one of the strongest races I have ever seen him run as he earned his All-Conference honor, and Chaz was not far behind,” said Wilson. “We needed our No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 runners to step up today to finish well, and we got the help we needed from Zach Stiverson, Zach Tuggle, and Tim. Even though they did not score for us today, David and Dustin were a major part of our success as they were able to finish ahead of potential scoring runners from other teams. With six of these seven runners returning next year, I am encouraged about the direction in which we are headed.”

With his finish in the race, Porostosky has an outside shot at qualifying individually for the NAIA national meet that will take place on November 17 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The complete field for the race will be announced on Tuesday afternoon by the NAIA national office.

In the women’s race, NAIA No. 4 Cedarville won its third straight AMC/NAIA Region IX title with 25 points to edge runner-up Malone (40 points) and third-place Houghton (N.Y.) College (114 points). MVNU finished 10th out of 12 teams with 322 points after an 11th-place finish last year.

Individually, Cedarville’s Nicole Santos covered the five-kilometer course in 17:54.9 to take the title as she finished ahead of Malone’s Rebekah Genter by nearly 10 seconds. Junior Mallorey Newland (right) led the Lady Cougars with a career-best time of 21:44.6 to finish 66th out of 114 runners, while sophomore Tessa Swartzentruber was 72nd in 22:04.9. Seniors Liz Keffer (82nd, 22:43.9) and Katie Tracy (88th, 23:05.5) both had new personal bests as did senior Bethany Haught (107th, 26:37.8), sophomore Brittany Click (111th, 28:20.4), senior Kayla Parlin (112th, 28:21.5), and sophomore Liz Bayless (114th, 30:02.8). Click showed the most improvement as she carved nearly 3:24 off her previous fastest time.

“The women’s team ran a very strong race today with many of the girls running personal best times,” said Wilson. “Our captains, Mallorey and Tessa, led the way with two very good performances that set us up to finish strong as a team. Our No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 runners all ran personal best times. These three girls (Liz Keffer, Katie, and Bethany) are all seniors and it was great to see them run as well as they did today. Our final three runners (Brittany, Kayla, and Liz Bayless) also ran personal best times. They have all been working hard the entire season, and they deserved to have a race like they did today. They all ran with confidence and they were all determined to finish well. With one race remaining for the team, I look forward to building off of this race and finishing the season well.”

Both MVNU teams will compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association national meet on Saturday at Cedarville University to close out the season. Last year, the men’s team finished 13th out of 22 teams, while the women’s team was 14th out of 22 teams.

“When I think back to the beginning of the season and how hard each individual has worked, today was very rewarding to see the success that we had,” said Wilson. “We are trying to build a solid cross country program at MVNU and today was another step in that process. In only our second season, we have made some great strides from where we began. I was thrilled to watch our runners compete with some of the best competition in the nation and run well. I think this program has a bright future and I look forward to leading this building process.”