In the men’s race, the Cougars finished 10th out of 16 teams with 279 points. NAIA No. 12 Shawnee State University placed four runners in the top 10 and totaled just 29 points to edge out the host Yellow Jackets (81 points), who are ranked No. 11 in the latest NAIA poll. The University of Rio Grande (111 points), Otterbein College (131 points), and Wright State University (135 points) rounded out the top five team finishes.

Makorobondo Salukombo of Denison University was the top men’s college finisher as he covered the course in 25:35 to edge out Michael Owen of Shawnee State by six seconds. Senior Mark Porostosky (left) was the top finisher for MVNU as he came in 26th out of 177 runners in a season-best time of 26:31. Sophomore Nate Winters came in 42nd in 27:09, while senior Kenny Alexander (29:42, 109th) and freshman Anthony Lee (30:03, 114th) both set new personal bests. Sophomore Jameson Seymour (30:22, 117th), senior Joe Pittenger (30:54, 122nd), senior Dustin Wine (31:11, 125th), junior David Clark (32:07, 143rd), freshman Mark Rednour (33:23, 154th), and freshman Jacob Pessia (33:49, 157th) rounded out the lineup for the Cougars with Pittenger, Rednour, and Pessia also posting personal bests.

In the women’s race, NCAA Division II No. 16 Ashland University won the 16-team race with 39 points to edge out host and NAIA No. 2 Cedarville, which finished with 64 points. NAIA No. 23 Shawnee State was third with 110 points, and Otterbein College (114 points) and Denison University (127 points) rounded out the top five team finishers. The Lady Cougars finished 11th with 327 points.

Sarah Foster from the Ohio State University won the women’s race in a time of 17:24 to hold of Katie Gillespie of Cedarville who finished second in a time of 17:34. Freshman Jessica Brant led MVNU by finishing 44th out of 181 runners in a time of 20:17. Senior Tara Patrick (21:06, 77th) and freshman Hannah Fertig (21:33, 89th) both posted a new personal best, while sophomore Caitlin Campbell finished 95th in 21:48. Freshman Melissa Keiser (22:45, 128th) and sophomore Nikki Yates (23:13, 136th) also set new personal bests, while sophomore Katelyn Felger (23:58, 143rd), freshman Bethany Parks (24:59, 157th), sophomore Deanna Hardeman (26:30, 168th), and senior Brittany Click (29:21, 177th) rounded out the runners for the Cougars.

“As always, the Cedarville Invitational had some excellent teams competing,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. “We had a great week of practice coming into the race today, and I was pleased with the results. One of the best areas of the run that I saw today was the ‘don’t quit’ attitude of the MVNU runners. Each of them ran focused and determined and I was proud of all of them. I remind our runners often that even if they did not run their best time that we are working toward a greater goal for the end of the season. This is another race to build on.”

“Our goal in this upcoming week is to continue working on running the entire race strong,” Wilson continued. “We have some areas to work on for both teams, but it is still early enough in the season that we can try to fix these areas. On the guys’ side, we will focus on the third and fourth miles while trying to close the gap between our No. 1 and No. 5 runners. On the girls’ side, we will continue working on the final mile of the race. I am anxious to see what this season holds. If these athletes keep working as they have been, it looks to be an exciting rest of the season.”

Both MVNU teams will return to action next Saturday at the Otterbein College Invitational with the women’s race starting at 10:45 a.m. and the men’s race following at 11:15 a.m.