JBU men finish 12th, women 21st

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Sophomore Josh Uzelac continued his stellar season with a fourth-straight meet in which he set a personal record, helping the John Brown University men’s cross country team finish 12th at the #JennaStrong Fall Classic on Friday evening.

The Golden Eagles captured 12th out of the field of 38 with a team time of 2 hours, 13 minutes, 31 seconds, finishing fifth among NAIA institutions. In the field of 395, Uzelac finished seventh overall with a time of 25:19, beating the last meet’s time by 14 seconds to set his fourth-straight current-era program records (since 2008).

“I love how bold Josh is when he races,” said head coach Scott Schochler. “He goes to the front and makes the race hard for everyone. Overall, we continue to make steady gains. Jacob (Benjamin) continued his strong season and Levi (Nordmeyer) is starting to perform well. Elliot (Pearson) keeps getting faster, and Michael (Games) put together a very good race.

“I think this team is very close to having a breakout performance and is going to be very competitive at the end of the season.”

Sophomore Jacob Benjamin turned in a 26:17 time to finish in the 46th slot and senior Levi Nordmeyer grabbed 95th with a time of 27:00. Freshman Elliott Pearson crossed the finish line at 27:21 and sophomore Michael Games was close behind at 27:31, earning the duo 126th and 133rd, respectively.

Women

Sophomore Reagan Roth turned in her fastest time of the season and led the John Brown University women’s cross country team to a 21st-place finish at the #JennaStrong Fall Classic.

The Golden Eagles captured 21st out of the field of 38 with a team time of 1:43:48, finishing sixth among NAIA institutions. The field of 366, Roth finished 100th overall with a time of 20:21.

Rachel Slingluff won the meet with an individual time of 17:30

“It was a great team effort today,” Schochler said. “We were missing one of our top five runners and they still made a massive improvement. Reagan and Carly (Coney) continue to be consistent at the front of the team while Abbie (Melby) is running extremely well. Kaitlyn (Collier) and Haley (Newcomb) both had very good performances. Excited to see how they continue to improve the next few weeks.”

Sophomore Carly Coney turned in a 20:27 time to finish in the 106th slot and senior Abbie Melby grabbed 109th with a time of 20:31. Junior Kaitlyn Collier crossed the finish line at 21:03 and sophomore Haley Newcomb finished at 21:24, earning the duo 148th and 174th, respectively.

Both JBU teams return to action on Saturday (Oct. 22) at the NAIA Midstates Classic, hosted by Southwestern (Kan.) in Winfield, Kan.