Richmond, IN — While the Goshen College women’s team was basking in its first regular-season team championship of the year and its newly-appointed 19th ranking in the country Friday (click here for article), the Leafs’ men’s program was making some noise of its own by finishing third at the 13-team Earlham College Invitational.

Goshen barely missed a second-place team finish in collecting just 97 team points — Rose-Hulman Institute was just ahead with 94 points for the runner-up spot. Just two seconds separated the programs by average time on the afternoon: Goshen posted a mean time of 28:08.6; Rose-Hulman’s average was 28:06.6.

“Our men’s team turned in a very good performance here today,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen head coach. “We barely missed second place. Overall I was really pleased with how we competed. We pursued other runners throughout the race and there were no letdowns by anyone.”

Junior Nick Adkins was among those who did not let down, running his best race of the season thus far for a fifth-place finish in a time of 27:18. Freshman Ben Bouwman (10th place, 27:45) and junior Jake Gillette (21st place, 28:14) finished second and third for Goshen, while freshman Dietrich Eitzen (27th place, 28:33) flipped places with sophomore David Rumsey (36th place, 28:53) from last week’s Indiana Intercollegiate event (click here for article).

“Nick Adkins looked really good turning in his best race of the year so far,” Yoder said. “He had a kick at the end and seems to be finding his groove at the right time. Dietrich Eitzen also had a strong run and shows steady improvement as her learns the 8K race.”

Goshen posted a gap time, or time between the team’s first finisher and fifth finisher, of 1:36 — well under Yoder’s pre-set goal.

“We have a goal to be under two minutes (gap time),” Yoder said. “Anytime you can do that with a strong showing up front, you’re bound to be one of the top teams at most meets.”

NCAA Division I Butler University ran away with the team title, taking just 31 team points in an average clip of 27:20.8. Butler’s Sam Jacobs won the individual medal in a time of 26:42 in the 138-man race.

“Butler was obviously the class of the meet,” Yoder said. “Anytime you can run against NCAA Division I competition, you should get excited. It’s a great barometer.”

John Carroll University finished fourth with 121 total points. Manchester College (132 points), Earlham College (137 points), Anderson University (159 points), Wittenberg University (167 points), Vincennes University (230 points), Wabash College (299 points), Bluffton University (321 points), Thomas More College (380 points) and Central State University (399 points) rounded out the team finishes. For a complete list of individual and team performances, click here.

The Leafs’ Nick Bouwman was the only other Goshen runner to break the 30-minute mark, finishing sixth for the team – and 50th overall — in a clip of 29:41.

Goshen will now prep for the annual Benedictine University Eagle Invitational coming up on Friday. Meet time for the men is set to begin at 5:15 p.m.

Goshen Individual Results
Nick Adkins (5th) — 27:18
Ben Bouwman (10th) — 27:45
Jake Gillette (21st) — 28:14
Deitrich Eitzen (27th) — 28.33
David Rumsey (36th) — 28:53
Nick Bouwman (50th) — 29:41
Ramadhan Onyango (76th) — 31:10
Mark Miller (87th) — 31:39
Michael Amos (90th) — 31:44
Jonathan Stuckey (102nd) — 32:21
Sam Moyer (103rd) — 32:23
Brent Handfield (130th) — 37:31