“The weather was beautiful, the competition was great, and I was very pleased with the way we ran in this meet,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. “Our times do not reflect how hard and how well we ran during this race. We thought this could be a very fast course, but the layout of the course was deceiving. Times for all the teams were a little slower than everyone thought they would be. We had a great week of practice and it showed by the way each individual ran.”

In the men’s race, Malone College, ranked No. 1 in the latest NAIA poll, finished first with 22 points to edge Union (Tenn.) University (69 points) and Cedarville University (110 points) and claim the team title out of 22 teams. The Cougars finished 11th with 321 points to fall just behind Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College (295 points), who received votes in the latest NAIA poll.

Individually, Henry Rop of Union won the men’s eight-kilometer race in a time of 24:59.2 to edge Ryan Kienzle of Malone (25:08.4). Sophomore Mark Porostosky continued his successful season by finishing 24th out of 191 runners with a time of 27:21.8 to lead MVNU. Freshman Chaz Rice (52nd, 28:30.1), freshman Zach Stiverson (left) (94th, 29:49.9), sophomore Zach Tuggle (99th, 29:54.4), senior Tim Grubb (117th, 30:26.5), freshman David Clark (144th, 31:43.6), and sophomore Dustin Wine (158th, 32:37.5) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars.

“Mark led the way with another good race, and the rest of the team responded to his leadership,” said Wilson. “We have been working on closing the gap between our No. 1 and No. 5 runners, and each race we are getting closer to where we want to be. Chaz, David, and Zach (Stiverson) are really growing into very good college runners. They are learning as freshmen, and each race they show signs of growth which is exactly what I want to see. Zach (Tuggle), Tim, and Dustin are also showing great leadership through their running and their actions. I am excited to see what happens at the conference race in two weeks.”

In the women’s race, fifth-ranked Cedarville University (27 points) edged eighth-ranked Malone (48 points) in the five-kilometer race as those two teams easily out-distanced the rest of the 22-team field. MVNU finished 21st with 562 points just behind the University of Virginia-Wise (548 points) and ahead of Pikeville (Ky.) College (615 points).

Individually, Lisa Davies of Shawnee State University (18:31.3) edged Lydia Wong of Cedarville (18:36.3) for the individual title by five seconds to win the title. Sophomore Tessa Swartzentruber led the Lady Cougars by finishing 117th in 23:14.2. Junior Mallorey Newland (122nd, 23:19.6), senior Liz Keffer (134th, 23:59.7), senior Katie Tracy (136th, 24:08.0), senior Bethany Haught (163rd, 26:58.5), senior Kayla Parlin (180th, 30:56.7), sophomore Brittany Click (right) (181st, 32:12.9), and sophomore Liz Bayless (183rd, 33:07.9) rounded out the scoring for MVNU.

“Tessa and Mallorey continue to set the pace for the women’s team, and they continue to push each other through the race,” said Wilson. “Like the men’s team, we have tried to close the scoring gap between our No. 1 and No. 5 runners, and it appears as though we are headed in the right direction. Liz (Keffer) and Katie are two runners who have been working their way up to the front of our pack and they are running very strong. Bethany has been very consistent as our No. 5 runner, and Kayla, Brittany, and Liz (Bayless) are learning from each race and continuing to improve each week.”

The two teams will return to action on November 3 when they will both compete in the American Mideast Conference/NAIA Region IX Meet at Walsh University. This race will determine the conference champions and berths in the NAIA National Meet in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“I was very proud of the way both the men and women ran at the Southeastern Classic,” said Wilson. “We saw some excellent competition and we stepped up to the challenge. We have been working all season for these last few races, and this race is an encouragement heading into the AMC race in two weeks.”