MARION, Ind. -- The top four spots went to the Indiana Wesleyan University men's cross country team in a dominating showing Saturday morning at the IWU Invitational which was held at the Outdoor Sports Complex.
Ethan Naylor won the 59-runner field with a time of 26 minutes 12 seconds on the 8,000-meter course. Naylor was proceeded by fellow Wildcats Andrew Albert (2nd place, 26:25), Matt McAndrews (3rd, 26:30), and Ethan Laudermilch (4th, 26:34).
"Shawn Howse was at a math conference and he is normally our No. 2 guy," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach John Foss. "So we really had a nice pack of four, which that will be a pack of five which is what we are going for. They were kind of helping each other a little bit but all ran really well which we were pleased with."
John Wilson completed the Wildcat scoring with a seventh place finish in a time of 27:11. Jonny Mendez was the sixth Wildcat (12th, 27:31) and Tyler Laubach (15th, 27:37) completed the top-seven spots for Indiana Wesleyan.
"Freshman John Wilson, I would like him up there with those top guys," said Foss. "I don't want him to settle as he was back a little bit from the pack. Jonny Mendez is in just his second or third race and did a really nice job today. And we had another freshman, Tyler Laubach, who was right behind him. And the guys behind them were running their best races of the year."
Times were slower than normal at the IWU Invitational following all the rain that fell yesterday. It was 40-degrees and windy to complicate running conditions.
"We wanted to come out and run good times because we knew competition was a bit down this year at the meet," added Foss. "In two weeks we are at the Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids which will have a lot of good teams so we are looking forward to that one."
Indiana Wesleyan compiled 17 points while Taylor (Ind.) University was second with 40. Grace (Ind.) College took third with 82 points, University of Saint Francis (Ind.) earned fourth at 116, and IU-Kokomo rounded out the team scoring with 135 points.
No. 17-ranked Indiana Wesleyan will race again next weekend at the Bethel Invitational in Mishawaka, Indiana. The meet will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 12.
