November 7, 2020

Huntington crowned Crossroads League Men's Champions

MARION, Ind. – The No. 3 Huntington men's cross country team captured the 2020 Crossroads League Championships title Friday afternoon at Indiana Wesleyan. The Foresters claimed five of the top 12 spots to finish with 40 points, nine points ahead of second-place Taylor who is currently ranked No. 1 nationally.

Rounding out the team scoring was #7 IWU in third with 101 points followed by Spring Arbor (126), #RV Grace (143), #14 Goshen (154), #RV Mount Vernon (157), Bethel (232), Saint Francis (245) and Marian (254).

Adrien Gentie was the first of Johnson's crew to cross the finish line. The senior harrier took third in 25:14. Elijah Chesterman came in sixth out of 118 runners by clocking in at 25:38. Kent Yoder cruised to a ninth place finish in 25:41 with Reece Gibson, who posted the top freshman time, a few seconds back at 25:45 for tenth place.

Rounding out HU's scoring was Haile Stutzman who claimed 12th in 25:54. Aaron Hendryx (26:17) and Austin Liepe (26:21) had Top 20 performances by posting 17th and 18th place finishes respectively. Other runners for Huntington included Kody Ahrens (84th, 28:50), Justin Ayers (92nd, 29:14), Paul Bickel (95th, 29:32), Justin Edwards (103rd, 30:28) and Logan Busz (111th, 30:59).

"We're happy with today's result," said Coach Johnson. "We've trained very hard this fall in order to have a great foundation for a successful spring."

"To go from the bottom to the top of the best conference in the nation in just three years is a testament to this team's hard work and dedication. Today's title is definitely something they've earned."

HU's top five runners in Gentie, Chesterman, Yoder, Gibson and Stutzman all earned a spot on the All-Conference Team while Coach Nick Johnson was tabbed the CL Coach of the Year.

Today's crown is the program's sixth conference title with the last dating back to 2011. As the Crossroads League Champions, HU earned the league's automatic bid to NAIA National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 9.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 70 NAIA All-America honors and 367 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.