The MVNU men’s team collected a trophy at the event for the second straight year as the Cougars finished behind host Shawnee State (15 points) and Davis & Elkins (W.V.) College (65 points) with 82 points to claim third place out of six teams in the eight-kilometer event.

Individually, Keegan Rathkamp of Shawnee State won the race in a time of 25:12. MVNU sophomore Mark Porostosky (left) broke his own school record in the eight-kilometer event that he set last year at Tiffin University by 11 seconds with a time of 26:47 to finish ninth overall. Freshman Chas Rice also earned a medal by finishing 15th with a time of 28:03 in his first collegiate race. Sophomore Zach Tuggle (30:15, 23rd), freshman Zach Stiverson (31:14, 29th), sophomore Dustin Wine (31:40, 32nd), freshman David Clark (33:00, 35th), senior Tim Grubb (33:03, 36th), junior Ben Hawes (33:45, 37th), senior Neil Taylor (35:35, 39th), and junior Ben Kuhn (39:05, 47th) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars.

“On the men’s side, we were able to compete well and bring home another trophy this year,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. “We definitely saw one of the best teams in the AMC (Shawnee State), and I thought we competed well against them. Two of our runners were medalists (Mark and Chaz) with both running excellent times. Some of our younger runners were able to get a taste of collegiate running, and they were able to step up to the challenge. Overall, I was pleased by the results."

In the women’s race, the Lady Cougars finished tied for fourth place out of six teams with 124 points. Cedarville University, which is ranked third in the NAIA preseason poll, won the event with 20 points, while Shawnee State was second with 43 points. Kentucky Christian University took third with 121 points, and Davis & Elkins matched MVNU with 124 points.

Individually, Lisa Davies of Shawnee State won the five-kilometer race in a time of 18:18. Junior Mallorey Newland (right) paced the Lady Cougars by finishing 22nd with a personal best time of 22:19 that was 1:18 faster than her previous best race. Senior Katie Tracy (23:50, 25th), sophomore Tessa Swartzentruber (24:22, 30th), senior Bethany Haught (27:54, 42nd), senior Ashley Davis (32:49, 49th), and sophomore Liz Bayless (35:54, 50th) rounded out the scoring.

“On the women’s side, we were able to run and compete against two of the top teams in our league (Shawnee State and Cedarville),” said Wilson. “For many of the girls, this was their first competitive race and they ran well. I look forward to watching them continue to improve throughout this season."

“I was very encouraged by the way both the men and women ran in this race,” Wilson added. “We have some areas of the race that we can improve, and now with one race completed we have a place to start. We will rest our legs this weekend and come back to work next week. We will compete at Cedarville and we look to improve our times at that point."

Both teams will be back in action at the Cedarville Invitational on September 15.