"Both the men’s and women’s teams have worked very hard this season in pursuit of being at their best at the end of the season,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. "I was pleased with the results from both races, and I think we have taken a step closer to where we want to be with this program. We were very competitive in this race and my runners did what I have been asking them to do all season - try their best. I am thankful for the effort that I saw on the course today.”

In the men’s race, Malone University captured its fifth straight NCCAA national title and its 20th all-time as the Pioneers finished with 36 points to edge Cedarville University (69) and Indiana Wesleyan University (85). King (Tenn.) College (127 points) and Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University (152 points) finished fourth and fifth respectively, while MVNU came in ninth with 276 points.

Cedarville’s Evan Thayer earned the individual national title with a time of 25:31 to beat runner-up Nick Meeson of Malone (25:45) by 14 seconds. Senior Mark Porostosky (left) covered the eight-kilometer course in 26:45 for the Cougars as he finished 14th out of 162 runners to earn NCCAA All-American honors for the second straight year. Sophomore Nate Winters (27:28, 32nd), freshman Anthony Lee (29:08, 69th), senior Kenny Alexander (29:26, 80th), senior Joe Pittenger (30:35, 107th), senior Dustin Wine (30:38, 110th), and junior David Clark (30:44, 112th) rounded out the lineup for MVNU with Clark posting a season-best time and every runner improving on their time from a week ago on the same course.

"The guys have been pacing off of each other all season and it showed in the way they finished,” said Wilson. "I was pleased to see these guys finish strong and finish close together in some cases. Mark led this team to the finish one last time in his standout college career. He has really set the standard for the MVNU men’s program and he was awarded NCCAA All-American honors for the second straight year.”

In the women’s race, Cedarville won the 19-team event for the fourth straight year and the ninth time overall as the Lady Jackets finished with 37 points to nip runner-up Malone (52 points). Indiana Wesleyan (93 points), Bethel (Ind.) College (120 points), and King (146 points) rounded out the rest of the top five, while the Lady Cougars came in 13th with 337 points.

Katie Gillespie of Cedarville won the individual national title in a time of 17:39 as she finished nearly a minute ahead of teammate and runner-up Lydia Wong (18:33). Freshman Jessica Brant led MVNU by finishing 54th out of 134 runners in a time of 20:47 on the five-kilometer course. Senior Tara Patrick ran her best race of the year in her final race as she finished 64th with a personal best time of 21:03, while sophomore Caitlin Campbell (21:24, 71st), freshman Hannah Fertig (21:35, 74th), sophomore Nikki Yates (22:58, 100th), freshman Melissa Keiser (23:22, 105th), and senior Brittany Click (30:50, 133rd) rounded out the scoring with Yates also posting a new personal best time.

"The women’s team had many young runners step up as five out of our top seven finishers are freshmen or sophomores,” said Wilson. "This was a great experience for all of the girls. We have battled so many illnesses and a few injuries this season that it was great to see a mostly healthy team for this season-ending race. I liked the fact that the girls went out hard with nothing to lose and it paid off for them at the finish.”

"We will definitely miss our six seniors next season including our last two original runners from the 2006 team,” Wilson reflected. "Mark and Dustin have helped to create a team atmosphere that is exciting to be a part of. All six of our seniors will be honored in a few weeks at our team banquet for their contributions to the program.”