Lisle, IL — In by far its most balanced effort of the season, the Goshen College men’s cross country team finished fourth overall at Friday’s Benedictine University Eagle Invitational, placing five runners under the 30-minute barrier for the first time this year. With over 25 institutions represented at the meet — and the Mid-Central Conference Championships just two weeks away — the Leafs’ effort was a promising beacon for head coach Doug Yoder.

“Our men’s team performed really well,” Yoder said following the meet. “We’ve reached our goal of having five runners under 30 minutes. That is a good sign.”

Yoder’s squad was again led by sophomore ace Nick Adkins, whose time of 26:53.9 was good for fifth overall, just under one minute off the medalist pace of Marian College’s Michael Kuria (25:57.0).

Adkins was helped by a slew of sub 30-minute teammates, however, as classmate Jake Gillette (fourth, 27:49), freshman David Rumsey (55th, 29:31), senior Aaron Aeschilman (57th, 29:42) and sophomore Ramadhan Onyango (65th, 29:56) all placed for the Leafs, giving the team a highly respectable finish out of a 155-man event.

“Nick Adkins again put in an excellent race finishing fifth overall,” Yoder said. “Ramadhan Onyango and Aaron Aeschilman put in great performances helping the team’s cause. We are really beginning to narrow the gap of our one through seven runners and by conference should have seven runners under 30 minutes.”

Goshen’s top five helped the team collect just 164 points Friday, greater than just event-winning Marian (61 points), North Central College (79 points) and Bethel College (125 points). The Leafs finish bettered last year’s sixth-place result, when the team tallied 165 points.For a complete list of team scores and individual times and results, click here.

The team will next compete in the Manchester College Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 in its final tune-up for the MCC Championships, taking place just a week later. Men’s race time is set for 12 p.m. at Manchester. The conference meet will take place at Huntington University on Saturday, Oct. 22. Men’s race time for that major event is set for 12:30 p.m.

Goshen Individual Results
Nick Adkins (5th) — 26:53
Jake Gillette (14th) — 27:49
David Rumsey (55th) — 29:31
Aaron Aeschilman (57th) — 29:42
Ramadhan Onyango (65th) — 29:56
Sam Moyer (80th) — 30:44
Alex Bouwman (85th) — 30:53
Nelson Kling (108th) — 32:09
Jason Young (121st) — 33:48
Lucas Vachon (146th) — 37:44