|
Indianapolis, IN — For weeks, Goshen men’s cross country coach Doug Yoder has been talking about his team’s depth to anyone who would listen.
Saturday afternoon on the campus of Butler University, he was presented with the most grandiose of podiums.
Goshen finished fourth at Saturday’s Mid-Central Conference Championships, the program’s best team finish since the 1992 season. Sophomore Ben Bouwman again led the way en route to his first All-MCC performance, while the team’s top six runners posted a gap time of just 2:23.
It was all icing on the cake to Yoder, as the Leafs beat out Spring Arbor University (125 points), Marian College (164 points), Bethel College (167 points) and Grace College (222) with their 113-point total.
“This (fourth-place) finish was fantastic for our men’s team,” said Yoder, in his fourth season at the helm of the program. “This team has progressed all season, and to be in the top half of our very tough conference is quite an accomplishment.”
Bouwman’s 11th-place, 26:33.98 finish fueled Goshen’s efforts, finishing as the team’s top runner for the fifth time in seven traditional meets. Senior Jake Gillette — 22nd overall in a time of 27:38.59 — finished second intra-squad for the fourth time (he’s finished as Goshen’s top runner twice this year).
Junior David Rumsey (23rd overall, 27:43.79), senior Nick Adkins (25th overall, 27;49.58) and freshman Paul Versluis (36th overall, 28:11.49) rounded off the Leafs’ scoring efforts on the afternoon.
For Ben Bouwman, however, capturing his first All-MCC award was a 13th-hour proposition. Yoder said that early in Saturday’s event, Bouwman seemed to be struggling, but was able to turn it on in narrowly earning the league honor (the event’s top 12 runners are named all-conference).
“Ben ran well and very smartly the entire race,” Yoder said. “At the one-mile point he was about 22nd place. He steadily moved up and went back and forth between 10th and 11th place. It’s important that you run your own race in meets like this, and that’s exactly what he did.”
Held at Butler University’s cross country course — Marian was the designated host institution — Goshen could not duplicate its season-best times from a week earlier at the Manchester College Invitational (click here for related article), a notoriously fast track. Indiana Wesleyan University won the team event garnering just 39 total points. Huntington University (41 points) and Taylor University (80 points) rounded off the top three.
“Realistically, fourth was probably as good as we could have done today,” Yoder said. “The top three teams in our conference are awfully good. We had some realistic, but lofty goals heading in, and we were able to accomplish those goals.”
Not since the 1992 season has a Leafs’ men’s team finished as high as this year’s squad, as current assistant coach Lyle Miller led the ’92 team to a third-place result. In this decade, Goshen has posted a fifth, three sixths, and three seventh-place finishes in MCC Championship meets.
“Our top five runners all put great runs together as did Nick Bouwman coming in as our sixth runner,” Yoder said.
Huntington’s Joseph Njeri won the individual title at the meet, finishing in a time of 25:50.87. A total of 83 runners participated.
Goshen now moves on to NAIA Region VIII competition in two weeks, as the team will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. on Nov. 3 for its final guaranteed event of the season. Dually hosted by Cornerstone University and Aquinas College, the regional meet will be held at Riverside Park. Event time for the men’s race is set for 11 a.m.
Goshen Individual Results
Ben Bouwman (11th) — 26:33.98
Jake Gillette (22nd) — 27:38.59
David Rumsey (23rd) — 27:43.79
Nick Adkins (25th) — 27:49.58
Paul Versluis (36th) — 28:11.49
Nick Bouwman (47th) —28:56.48
Randy Keener (49th) — 29:14.25
Dietrich Eitzen (63rd) — 30:06.64
Andy Brubaker (65th) — 30:24.97
Robert Hooley (68th) — 30:36.09
Mark Miller (74th) — 31:20.52
Max Wyse (75th) — 31:27.71
Jonathan Stuckey (76th) — 31:35.97
|
Sophomore Ben Bouwman