SHELBYVILLE, In.--- The men's cross country team competed on Saturday in their first ever National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) DIII Regional Championship. Though shorthanded due to some team illnesses and injuries, they finished 29th out of the 42 schools competing in the Great Lakes region.
Running in his final collegiate cross-country race,
Wes Preston finished in 100th place out of the 283 competitors. His time of 26:53 was his fastest of the season.
Dan Kersey completed the course in 27:53, just off of his performance in the conference meet two weeks ago.
Behind Wes and Dan, the next three Eagle finishers ended their season with a bang. Sophomore
Jojo Ernst took 45 seconds off of the fastest 8k (5 miles) time he had ever run, finishing in 28:46. Next in was
Cameron Tapp with an excellent time of 28:52, bouncing back from a frustrating three months of physical challenges.
The highlight though came from senior
Luke Holton. Running in his final cross country competition, Luke filled the last scoring position for the team and achieved this goal of breaking 29 minutes. His 28:58 improved on his previous personal record of 29:01 set a year ago in Knoxville on a much easier course.
Also competing for the last time as an Eagle was
Tyler Chong who was the sixth finisher for the team.
Full team and individual results can be found
here.
"This was a fun way to end the season. We finally saw what it's like to compete on the NCAA stage. There are some really good teams in our region of the country and we know now how much work there is to do next year to be competitive at this level. Today though, I was just so happy for Jojo, Cam, and Luke. I love the runners on the men's team this fall, and it has been frustrating to deal with so much sickness and an unusual number of injuries. It was great for these three guys to finish the season with such a good race."
Randy Crist | Head Cross Country Coach
* For the latest information on Asbury Athletics follow us @asburyeagles on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
* Watch our all #TeamAU home games live at Asbury Sports Digital Network
* Use the links attached to the team schedules to watch live or follow live stats
