JBU men’s team finishes eighth
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — With a handful of programs receiving votes in the latest NAIA National Coaches’ Poll participating, all scoring runners improved their times from last meet as the John Brown University men’s cross country finished eighth at the Seminole Valley Stampede on Saturday morning.
Sophomore Ben Martin tied his second-quickest time of the year, finishing in 19th (26 minutes:43 seconds), just 1:35 behind meet medalist Philip Lagemann of Saint Mary (Neb.). Seniors Jacob Benjamin and Josh Uzelac both scored for the fifth time in as many meets, turning in 54th (27:30) and 57th (27:35) places, respectively, separated by just five seconds.
“The men did very well this morning against quality competition,” head coach Scott Schochler said. “Ben again ran well, but also Michael and John had their best races of the year to help close out the scoring efforts.”
Senior Michael Games scored for the second time this year with a 66th place finish (27:43) and sophomore John Unruh’s time of 27:55 was good enough for 74th overall as he scored for the second consecutive meet.
John Brown (2:17:28) trimmed over five minutes off its team time from the Oklahoma Baptist Invitational, but it was Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) that captured the race (2:12:06).
The Golden Eagles now turn their attention to the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship meet, which will change venues for the first time in over two decades. JBU will run at Woodson Park, hosted by Oklahoma City University, on Nov. 3.