TU Men Finish Runner-Up at NAIA Nationals
VANCOUVER, Wash. – The No. 6 Taylor men's cross country team ended its impressive season on Friday at the 64th-Annual NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Washington taking second place as a team for its best-ever finish at Nationals.
"The men's race was very exciting," stated head coach Quinn White. "To finish runner-up is extremely impressive. I thought the guys ran very aggressive, smart and with conviction. They believed that they were a top team and they finished as a top team. I was very excited about the way they finished by moving from third place to second, that showed a lot of grit and passion. To have three All-Americans is quite special. We are thankful and blessed for the great season we have been given."
The Purple and Gold started the race strong in order to secure a position at the front of the pack before the winding course narrowed. The men were in first place through four kilometers, then moved back to third by the 6k, before finishing the 8k race in second-of-37 teams. The men battled with Oklahoma City, Embry-Riddle Arizona and College of Idaho throughout the race.
TU tallied a total of 171 points with a team time of 128:13, finishing behind first place Oklahoma City with 110 points. The Purple and Gold outran third place Lewis-Clark with 187, fourth place Embry-Riddle Arizona with 195 and College of Idaho with 203.
The Trojan's second-place finish is the highest finish in Taylor program history, with the previous best at sixth-place in 1996 and 1967.
Three Trojans, Daniel Gerber, Hunter Smith and Josh Roth, collected All-American honors by finishing inside the top-30. All three men claimed their first-ever All-American honor.
Gerber finished his junior year in style, racing to seventh-place with a time of 25:05.9 and grabbing his best-ever Nationals finish.
Smith closed his outstanding career with the Purple and Gold, racing in his fourth-straight National Championships. Smith turned in his best finish, crossing in 26th-place with a time of 25:26.8.
Roth, finishing just behind Smith, claimed 29th-place with a mark of 25:27.8. Roth's showing was his best finish in three appearances at NAIA Nationals.
Sophomore Derek Van Prooyen also showed improvements in his second appearance in as many years for TU at Nationals, crossing in 60th-place and clocking a time of 26:02.5.
Alex Helmuth rounded out Taylor's scoring, ending in 73rd with a time of 26:09.9 in his second trip to Nationals.
Junior Luke Rovenstine made his National Championship debut in Vancouver, claiming 145th-place and clocking a time of 26:44.7.
Connor White finished with a time of 26:52.2. The sophomore's second Nationals race ended with a 162nd-place finish.
The second-place men's cross country team and the sixth-place women's team finished second place overall in the NAIA as a combined program. This is the first time in TU cross country history both teams made it to the podium as a combined program. The combined teams tallied a score of 420, trailing first place College of Idaho with 350 points.
"It was a very special day in Taylor University cross country history to finish as runner-up in the combined scoring of men and women," added White. "This is something that I am extremely proud of."
Taylor closed its impressive 2019 campaign at 115-19 overall, after going 80-18 through five regular season races. The Trojans have finished second, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 15th in each of the past six years at Nationals, while finishing inside the top-three in the Crossroads League in each season.
Taylor will graduate Hunter Smith, Reid Otto, Connor Legge and Seth Harden from the 2019 roster but is set to return 13 student-athletes for the 2020 campaign, including six-of-seven runners from the 2019 National Championship lineup.