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Manchester Men Earn First Ever HCAC Cross Country Championship
CINCINNATI, OH - Manchester College's men's cross country team captured their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship on October 31. The Spartans claimed six of the top 12 individual places en route to posting a score of 21 at the meet held at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Manchester College senior Andy Williams (Middlebury, Ind.) won the individual title for the second straight season.
Williams finished the 8K course on Saturday afternoon in a time of 26:34. His effort was four seconds faster than second-place finisher Kyle Pletcher (Walkerton, Ind.) of Manchester. Williams was named HCAC Most Valuable Player for his performance.
Pletcher joined Williams on the All-HCAC team which is awarded to the top 12 finishers. The other Manchester runners to earn the recognition on Saturday were Braden Nelson (Angola, Ind.), Alec Womboldt (DeWitt, Ind.), Cole Jackson (Logansport, Ind.) and Calvin Cook (Plymouth, Ind.).
Kirk Saunders (Bloomington, Ill.) of Anderson was named the HCAC Freshman of the Year. He was the top finishing freshman at the meet placing seventh overall with a time of 26:58.
Finishing in second place in the team standings was Anderson with a score of 53. Franklin placed third with a score of 74 and was followed by Rose-Hulman (79) in fourth position. Defiance (147) and Hanover (183) rounded out the team standings. Mount St. Joseph, Bluffton, and Transylvania competed in the meet but did not post a team score.
Franklin's Jacob Hojnacki (LaPorte, Ind.), Rose-Hulman's Tyler Kreipke (Zionsville, Ind.), and Anderson's Taylor Holmes (Monticello, Ind.), Bill Digman (Muncie, Ind.) and Jake Wyatt (Hudson, Ind.) were also named to the All-HCAC team.
Manchester head coach Brian Cashdollar was named HCAC Coach of the Year for his efforts in leading the Spartans to the conference title.
Team Scores
|
School |
Total |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
*6 |
*7 |
|
Manchester |
21 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
12 |
18 |
|
Anderson |
53 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
19 |
21 |
26 |
|
Franklin |
74 |
5 |
14 |
16 |
17 |
22 |
24 |
31 |
|
Rose-Hulman |
79 |
6 |
13 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
27 |
29 |
|
Defiance |
147 |
23 |
28 |
30 |
32 |
34 |
35 |
40 |
|
Hanover |
183 |
33 |
36 |
37 |
38 |
39 |
41 |
42 |
|
Mount St. Joseph |
NTS |
19 |
66 |
74 |
80 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Bluffton |
NTS |
49 |
73 |
76 |
79 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Transylvania |
NTS |
59 |
69 |
82 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
All-Conference
|
Place |
Name |
School |
Time |
|
1 |
Andy Williams |
Manchester |
26:34 |
|
2 |
Kyle Pletcher |
Manchester |
26:38 |
|
3 |
Braden Nelson |
Manchester |
26:45 |
|
4 |
Alec Womboldt |
Manchester |
26:52 |
|
5 |
Jacob Hojnacki |
Franklin |
26:57 |
|
6 |
Tyler Kreipke |
Rose-Hulman |
26:58 |
|
7 |
Kirk Saunders |
Anderson |
26:58 |
|
8 |
Taylor Holmes |
Anderson |
27:03 |
|
9 |
Bill Digman |
Anderson |
27:03 |
|
10 |
Jake Wyatt |
Anderson |
27:15 |
|
11 |
Cole Jackson |
Manchester |
27:19 |
|
12 |
Calvin Cook |
Manchester |
27:20 |
Honorable Mention All-Conference
|
Place |
Name |
School |
Time |
|
13 |
Micah Aldrich |
Rose-Hulman |
27:25 |
|
14 |
Kinley Weber |
Franklin |
27:31 |
|
15 |
David Caldwell |
Rose-Hulman |
27:38 |
|
16 |
Scotch Swango |
Franklin |
27:52 |
|
17 |
Kevin Martin |
Franklin |
28:03 |
|
18 |
Kerry Nielsen |
Manchester |
28:16 |
|
19 |
Jeff Schroer |
Mount St. Joseph |
28:19 |
|
20 |
Jeff Vibbert |
Anderson |
28:22 |
MVP: Andy Williams, Manchester
Freshman of the Year: Kirk Saunders, Anderson
Coach of the Year: Brian Cashdollar, Manchester
