Panthers Make It Three In A Row
The Greenville University men's cross country team made it three in a row as they won the 2018 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship. The Panthers won their third consecutive team title, becoming the first program to accomplish that feat since they won 11 in a row from 1996 to 2007. The Panthers tallied 24 points as a team with five runners finishing in the top nine of the race. Their 33 point margin of victory is the largest in the SLIAC Championship since 2000.
Greenville's Dylan Goodyear and John Mangold jumped out in front of the pack from the start. Goodyear would kick it up a notch and pull away from the field midway through the race, finishing the 8K course in a time of 25:55, nearly 40-seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Goodyear becomes the first Panther to win the individual title since Rodney Oyler won in 2008.
Mangold finished 3rd overall while teammates Collin Kessinger (5th), Dylon Niswonger (6th), and Garrett Johnson (9th) joined in the top ten with Lukas Baird finishing 12th. All of the aforementioned Panthers picked up All-Conference honors.
Webster University finished second as a team with 57 points. Nathan Freyling was the top Gorlok finisher, coming in 4th overall with a time of 27:14. Colton Vaughn (11th), Eli Guzman (13th), and Javier Cervantes (14th) picked up All-Conference honors along with Freyling.
Spalding University was 3rd with 59 points. It was a race to the end to see which Golden Eagle would cross the finish line first with Will Brittian reaching the mark first. Brittian finished 7th overall with a time of 27:25 while teammate Dane Thomas came in 8th, just four seconds later and Eli Thomas placed 10th with a time of 27:39.
Principia College recorded 105 points, taking 4th place in the race. Abe Ott led the way for the Panthers, finishing 2nd overall with a time of 26:38 and was the lone Panther to receive All-Conference honors.
Iowa Wesleyan University marked their return to competition at the SLIAC Championships with 147 points and a 5th place finish. The Tigers were led by Joel Amor, who finished 23rd overall with a time of 28:55.
Blackburn College picked up 178 points for 6th place. Matt Moseley finished 44th overall with a time of 33:51 to lead the Beavers.
MacMurray College was 7th in the team standings with 183 points. The Highlanders top finisher was Zach Vespa, placing 34th overall with a time of 31:20.
Fontbonne University was led by Austin Joyce (29th place) with a time of 30:00 while Samuel Moore led Westminster College with a time of 29:00 and finishing in 24th place.
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