“Despite the cold weather and wet conditions, the course was well-maintained and it was still a fun race atmosphere,” said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. “This is always one of our favorite races throughout the season and we had been looking forward to running here these last few weeks.”

In the men’s race, the University of Rio Grande won the 26-team event with 89 points to edge out runner-up Otterbein College (105 points) and third-place finisher Center (Ky.) College (115 points). Tiffin University (150 points) and the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) (157 points) rounded out the top five, while MVNU finished 12th with 344 points.

Bryce Wilson of Rio Grande won the individual title in the men’s race as he covered the eight-kilometer course in 25:19.5 to finish just over 18 seconds ahead of teammate Nick Wilson (25:38.2). Senior Mark Porostosky led the Cougars in the race and came in 12th out of 265 runners in a season-best time of 26:12.7 as he finished just 12 seconds off his own school record set on this course last season. Sophomore Nate Winters finished 30th in a time of 26:57.1, while senior Kenny Alexander (28:49.0) and freshman Anthony Lee (28:51.3) were 113th and 114th respectively as they both posted new personal bests. Senior Dustin Wine (29:48.5, 153rd), sophomore James Seymour (29:56.7, 159th), senior Joe Pittenger (30:05.6, 164th), junior David Clark (31:14.3, 195th), freshman Mark Rednour (32:06.3, 217th), and freshman Jacob Pessia (32:21. 4, 221st) rounded out the scoring for MVNU with Pittenger, Rednour, and Pessia setting new personal bests and Wine, Seymour, and Clark posting season bests.

“The men’s race saw many of our guys run their best race of the season,” said Wilson. “This was definitely a confidence builder for many of our runners. As a team, this was one of the best races we have run this season, and it was great to see these guys rewarded for their hard work in practice. Mark (Porostosky), Kenny, Anthony, Dustin, Jameson, Joe, David, Jake, and Mark (Rednour) all ran season best or personal best times, and it was also great to see Mark and Nate running in the front of the pack leading the MVNU guys. I will watch for these runners to continue to improve next week.”

In the women’s race, John Carroll University won the 24-team event with 85 points to edge out Otterbein College (91 points) and Wittenberg University (109 points). Franklin (Ind.) College was fourth with 124 points and host Wilmington was fifth with 126 points. The Lady Cougars came in 19th with 518 points.

Heather Waterman of Franklin won the individual title as she covered the five-kilometer course in 18:38.8 to finish just five seconds ahead of runner-up Ashley Aberl of John Carroll (18:43.8). Freshman Hannah Fertig (right) led MVNU by coming in 83rd out of 244 runners in a new personal best time of 21:18.1. Sophomore Caitlin Campbell (21:41.3, 105th), senior Tara Patrick (22:01.8, 125th), freshman Melissa Keiser (22:16.5, 141st), sophomore Nikki Yates (22:59.4, 165th), freshman Bethany Parks (23:50.5, 186th), sophomore DeAnna Hardeman (25:10.4, 211th), and senior Brittany Click (27:53.5, 231st) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Cougars. In addition to Fertig, Keiser, Yates, Parks, and Click each posted new personal bests, while Hardeman ran a season best time.

“The girls came into this race with a few injuries and sickness, but we had many girls step up and helps this team have a strong finish,” said Wilson as freshman Jessica Brant, the team’s top runner, and sophomore Katelyn Felger were neither able to run in this race. “I watched as many of these girls ran their personal or season best time today. These girls have been working really hard to improve and I knew this could be a breakout race for many of them. I was very encouraged to see this team run the way they did today especially since we were not at full strength. Our times are starting to improve at the right time, and I am excited to see what these girls can do in this last month as we head to the conference race in a few weeks.”

Both MVNU teams will be back in action at the Aquinas (Mich.) College Invitational next Saturday with the men’s race slated to start at 11:00 a.m. and the women’s race to follow at noon.