MVNU Cross Country Teams Run Well at Otterbein Races


	Lady Cougar Cross Country Recaps MVNU Cross Country Teams Run Well at Otterbein Races written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Men's Race Results \| Women's Race Results WESTERVILLE, Ohio (9-24-2011) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's and women's cross country teams both ran well at the Otterbein University Invitational on Saturday. In the women's race, Centre (Ky.) College won the team title with 49 points to edge out runner-up DePauw (Ind.) University (57 points) and host Otterbein (76 points). The Lady Cougars finished seventh out of 14 teams with 225 points. Individually, Jennifer Cook of Berry (Ga.) College claimed the title in 22:40 as she edged out Siri Retrum of DePauw (22:55). Freshman Lincoln Green *(left)* led MVNU by coming in 24th out of 152 runners as she covered the six-kilometer course in 24:29. Sophomore Lindsey Minor (26:11, 63rd), sophomore Ashley Mast (26:13, 65th), freshman Becca Haught (26:22, 68th), senior Caitlin Edwards (26:27, 70th), Alex Reasoner (27:11, 82nd), Brittany Richter (27:28, 88th), junior Melissa Keiser (29:48, 131st), sophomore Kathleen Finley (30:18, 132nd), and Katie Worthington (33:03, 142nd) rounded out the finishers for the Lady Cougars. "The women's team has continued to improve, and one of the major areas we are doing well is running together and pushing teammates throughout the race," said MVNU coach Chip Wilson. "Lincoln had another standout race as she took honors with a 24th-place finish. She is continuing to get stronger each race while pulling others along with her. Our No. 2-7 runners were only about 40 seconds apart at the 5K mark today for future team scoring. It is fun to watch because you never know who will place where on the team. This coming week at Cedarville we will have an opportunity to be more aggressive because the course is wide open, and this could lead to some improvements in times." In the men's race, Centre made it a clean sweep of the team titles by claiming it with 48 points to nip DePauw (63 points), Manchester (Ind.) College (66 points), and Thiel (Pa.) College (84 points). MVNU finished ninth out of 13 teams with 259 points as the sixth runner's finish came into play for the Cougars. Individually, DePauw's Noah Droddy took home the title in the eight-kilometer race as he finished in 25:56 to edge out Richard Peterson of Thiel (26:07) and John Kieffer of Center (26:09). Senior Nate Winters *(right)* was the top finisher for MVNU as he came in 19th out of 136 runners in 27:32. Sophomore Jace Wolford (28:42, 47th), senior Kevin Poast (30:28, 89th), freshman C.J. Larue (30:52, 94th), senior Chad Lawver (32:45, 114th), junior Mark Rednour (32:49, 116th), junior Jacob Pessia (33:24, 121st), junior Anthony Lee (35:00, 129th), and sophomore Mitch McKenzie (35:51, 131st) rounded out the lineup for the Cougars. "Nate continues to get stronger each race and it is evident that he is also becoming smarter in his racing strategy," said Wilson. "He ran out well today the first mile, and it seemed like he held that strong run throughout the race. He also took honors today with a 19th-place finish. I noticed a positive drastic change in the second and third mile today from all the guys and I was encouraged by the results. Our main focus in the coming week will continue to be that fourth mile, but we are making strides as a team. We have some young guys like Jace and C.J. who are continuing to get better and I look for them to really step up at Cedarville." "We were battling through some sickness this week, so I wasn't sure what to expect from my runners, but again, I was impressed with the effort I saw from both teams," Wilson added. "The footing in some areas was a challenge because of the rain, but we were able to make it through and finish strong races. It was a fun day." Both MVNU teams will return to action next Friday when they travel to Cedarville University for the annual All-Ohio Invitational. The men's race will start at 2 p.m. followed by the women's race at 2:45 p.m.

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