In the men’s race, NAIA No. 4 Indiana Institute of Technology won the 22-team event with 58 points to out-distance NAIA No. 2 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) University (92 points) and host NAIA No. 6 Aquinas (95 points). NAIA No. 3 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical (Fla.) University was fourth with 148 points, while NAIA No. 14 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University rounded out the top five with 157 points. Overall, there were seven teams ranked in the most recent NAIA poll and three others who received votes. MVNU finished with 492 points in 17th place.

Aron Rono, the defending NAIA national champion, from Azusa Pacific won the individual title as he covered the eight-kilometer course in 24:34 to finish 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Abednego Magut (25:06), another NAIA All-American from Azusa Pacific. Junior Mark Porostosky (left) was 31st to lead the Cougars as he finished in 26:01 to just miss his own school record by one second that he had set in his previous race at Wilmington College. Freshman Nate Winters (27:34, 94th), sophomore Zach Stiverson (28:12, 114th), freshman Blake Heinlen (28:32, 121st), sophomore David Clark (29:27, 132nd), freshman Jameson Seymour (30:35, 141st), and junior Dustin Wine (32:30, 148th) rounded out the scoring for MVNU.

“Our men’s team posted some good times today, and we competed at a high level,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. “Our mile splits have been very consistent and we are now focusing more on our speed work to try and decrease our overall times. These guys have worked hard and have put themselves in a great position to compete well at our conference race in a few weeks.”

In the women’s race, NAIA No. 2 Cedarville University won the 20-team event with 43 points to edge out NAIA No. 1 Azusa Pacific (65 points) and NAIA No. 9 Indiana Tech (95 points). NAIA No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan University (140 points) and NAIA No. 16 Embry-Riddle (183 points) rounded out the top five in a race that featured eight of the top 18 teams in the most recent NAIA poll and three others that received votes. The Lady Cougars finished with 603 points in 19th place.

Jacky Kipwambok, an NAIA All-American and last years’ national runner-up from Azusa Pacific, won the individual title as she covered the five-kilometer course in 16:57 to finish 19 seconds ahead of runner-up Alissa McKaig of Indiana Tech (17:16), who won both the 5K and 10K individual national titles in track last year. Freshman Caitlin Campbell was the top finisher for MVNU as she came in 109th in a time of 21:42. Freshman Katelyn Felger (22:10, 116th), freshman Heidi Raidel (22:19, 117th), freshman Lauren Ford (23:37, 130th), sophomore Ashley Morse (24:05, 131st), freshman Nikki Yates (24:47, 133rd), freshman DeAnna Hardeman (25:32, 135th), and junior Brittany Click (30:02) rounded out the lineup for MVNU with Ford and Yates both posting new personal bests.

“Coming off a strong performance at Wilmington, our women’s team is remaining very consistent,” said Wilson. “We are backing down the mileage at this point, and I think with fresh legs at the American Mideast Conference race we will see some much lower times posted by these girls. They are such a great group of girls that want to improve, and with that mentality, they will.”

“This race was a great experience for both of our young teams,” said Wilson. “This is probably the best competition that we have seen this season from top to bottom. We saw several nationally-ranked teams and it was exciting to be a part of something like this. I wanted to give my runners an opportunity to run against great programs because that is what we are striving to become.”

Both MVNU teams will now turn their focus to the American Mideast Conference Meet that will be hosted by Ursuline College on November 8 with the women’s race starting at 10:00 a.m. and the men’s race to follow at 11:00 a.m.

“Looking ahead to the AMC race we need to work on a few areas of the race, but at this point it is mostly a mental game,” said Wilson. “If these runners can challenge themselves mentally, I think we have a great chance of improving.”