FOR RELEASE
2012-10-12
WILMINGTON, Ohio - With races like Friday, the HU women’s cross country team continues to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the nation. The 25th-ranked Foresters ran to a second place finish at the Wilmington College Fall Invitational among a field of 32 teams which included several NCAA Division II and III institutions.
Huntington’s top six runners ran a sub-twenty minute 5K with Gretchen Spahr leading the way. The HU sophomore finished in a season best 18:40 good for tenth place out of 340 runners.
Hannah Moore wasn’t far behind with a 12th place finish in 18:48, a new collegiate PR. Five seconds later Cendall Ogle crossed the line in 18:53, her fastest finish this season, to claim 14th.
Natalie Spahr (19:40) and Krista Wood (19:42) claimed 36th and 37th place respectively to round out the Foresters’ scoring. Other HU runners included Erin Rockey who ran to a 39th place finish in 19:44 while Miranda Boyts posted a time of 20:28 for 80th place.
HU’s top five runners averaged 19:08, a 39-second improvement over last year’s race on this same course.
On the men’s side, the Foresters’ top six runners posted personal bests this season. Lance Wood paced the Foresters to a 12th place finish out of 34 teams. He finished 52nd overall out of 380 runners in 26:30.
Tyler Herber was on his heels with a 26:31 finish good for 55th place. Brian Menzie and Antonio Castillo clocked in at 27:11 to finish 79th and 80th respectively while Ethan Medley posted a 27:47 for 113th.
Other HU runners included Matt Bittner (132nd, 28:08) and Josh Graham (148th, 28:31).
The Foresters are back in action on Saturday when they compete in the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge hosted by Aquinas College.
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