Defiance, OH — Running in its first true regular season meet of the 2005 season, the Goshen College men’s cross country team finished fifth out of a six-team field at the Defiance College Invitational Saturday.

Sophomores Nick Adkins and Jake Gillette paced the squad in the traditional, 8K event, taking second and seventh place, respectively. Adkins finished just under a minute and a half of the medalist pace, taking second in a clip of 27:23.5 Gillette, meanwhile, missed out on a sixth-place effort by just seven seconds, coming in at 28:21.7.

“The men’s race had some very good performances,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen head coach. “Nick Adkins placing was an outstanding display of racing strategy. He was in third place almost the entire last two thirds of the race and made his move with 400 meters to go to take second. Jake Gillette also ran a very smart, controlled race to place in the top 10.”

Freshman David Rumsey was the Leafs’ third-best runner at the meet, finishing 19th overall in a time of 29:09.9. Taylor University won the team event, garnering a meet-low 31 points. Taylor was followed by Tri-State University (72 points); Alma College (74 points); University of Findlay (89 points); Goshen (99 points); Defiance (131 points).

Lance Vanderberg of Taylor University won the individual race in a time of 25:58.3. A total 56 runners competed in the event. For a complete list of individual times and results, click here. For a breakdown of team performances and points, click here.

Goshen will next compete in the vaunted Indiana Intercollegiate meet Friday evening, giving the squad the opportunity to test itself against nearly all of the colleges and universities in the state. Men’s race time is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Goshen Individual Results
Nick Adkins (2nd) — 27:23.5
Jake Gillette (7th) — 28:21.7
David Rumsey (19th) — 29:20.9
Sam Moyer (33rd) — 31:14.9
Nelson Kling (38th) — 34:19.8
Jason Young (55th) — 37:43.5