Terre Haute, IN — The Goshen College cross country program got a taste of the big time Friday afternoon, as both the Leafs’ men’s and women’s team took part in the annual Indiana Intercollegiate cross country meet hosted by Indiana State University. Twenty-five state schools ranging from the NCAA Division I level to the junior college ranks competed, as Goshen finished 17th overall and 11th within the non-NCAA Division I level, or “Little State.” Eighteen schools participated in that division.

“Our results placed us in the middle of the pack among Mid-Central Conference schools, but I didn’t feel we were quite as sharp as we could be,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen head coach. “It’s early in the season, though, and we’re still working a lot of things out individually.”

Freshman Ben Bouwman took the lead spot for Goshen, finishing 40th among the small school division and 70th overall in the 201-man race, charting a time of 27:44.3, nearly 20 seconds off his time last week at the Defiance Invitational (click here for article). Junior Nick Adkins — who was Goshen’s top runner last week — finished just off Bouwman’s pace, finishing 42nd/74th in a time of 27:50.2, all while fighting off flu-like symptoms.

“Ben Bouwman continues to improve and was our top finisher for the first time this year,” Yoder said. “It is encouraging to see that finishing places can interchange amongst team members according to who is running the best at a particular meet.”

The Leafs incurred another flip-flop in the team’s third- and fourh-place team finishes, as junior Jake Gillette pushed past last week’s number three runner (sophomore David Rumsey) finishing 61st/101st in a time of 28:25.2. Rumsey wasn’t far off that clip, taking 79th in the small school division and 121st overall in a time of 28:48.8.

Freshman Dietrich Eitzen — Goshen’s final scoring runner — was the only athlete to keep his positioning in the team standards, taking a 90th/135th place finish in a time of 29:09.0, just four seconds off last week’s time. Eitzen helped Goshen to an overall point total of 465 and a small-school tally of 295, beating out MCC schools University of St. Francis (670/462) and Grace College (670/464) along with NCAA Division I institution Butler University (617 points in the overall competition).

“Our top five runners had a gap time of 1:24, which was not quite as close as it was last week (a gap time of 1:06),” Yoder said. “Again, we will continue to work toward out best race which hopefully is at the end of the season.”

Indiana State won the overall team competition with 32 points, while NCAA Division III Anderson University took the Little State crown (34 points among small school athletes; 100 points for third place overall). The University of Evansville’s Nick Waninger won the individual medal in the composite race, finishing in a time of 25:27.3. Anderson’s Sean Hudson was the first small-school athlete to finish, winning the Little State crown in a time of 25:52.2 (good for eighth place overall).

For a complete list of composite individual finishes and times, click here. For the same results among small college athletes only, click here. Composite team results from the meet are available while clicking here, while Little State team results can be viewed by clicking here.

Goshen will now remain idle until Saturday, Sept. 30, when the team will travel to Richmond, Ind. to participate in the Earlham College Invitational. Men’s race time is set for 11:45 a.m.

Goshen Individual Results
(Small School/Composite School Divisional Finishes)
Ben Bouwman (40th/70th) — 27:44.3
Nick Adkins (42nd/74th) — 27:50.2
Jake Gillette (61st/101st) — 28:25.2
David Rumsey (79th/121st) — 28:48.8
Deitrich Eitzen (90th/135th) — 29.09.0
Ramadhan Onyango (125th/175th) — 31:10.7
Nick Bouwman (129th/180th) — 31:29.7
Mark Miller (140th/192nd) — 32:21.4
Sam Moyer (143rd/195th) — 33:06.2