CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It was a record setting day for the Indiana Wesleyan University men’s cross country team as they placed third out of 36 teams for the best finish in program history at the 60th annual NAIA National Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

Game Vitals

• Team Finishes:  1. Oklahoma City (Okla.) - 78   2. St. Mary (Kan.) - 168   3. Indiana Wesleyan - 178
• IWU Top-7:  15. Jacob Reinking (JR/Ft. Wayne, Ind.), No. 17 Neno Bellinotti (SO/Sweetser, Ind.), No. 38 Tyler Laubach (SR/Walnutport, Pa.), No. 48 Josh Neideck (SO/Upland, Ind.), No. 60 John Wilson (SR/Angola, Ind.), No. 89 Nathan Gerick (JR/LaPorte, Ind.), No. 114 Steven Osladil (SR/Hanover, Pa.)
• NAIA Top- 25 Rank:  Indiana Wesleyan - No. 4
• Location:   McAlpine Creek Park   |   Charlotte, North Carolina 
• Brief:  It was a record setting day for the Indiana Wesleyan University men’s cross country team as they placed third out of 36 teams for the best finish in program history at the 60th annual NAIA National Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

What Went Down

• Oklahoma City (Okla.) won by 90 points to earn their second consecutive and third overall national championship. St. Mary edged Indiana Wesleyan for runner-up by just 10 points.
• Jacob Reinking and Neno Bellinotti both finished in the top-20 of the team competition as individuals. Reinking was 15th on the 8,000-meter course in a time of 25:06 while Neno Bellinotti was 17th in 25:07. The pair were both honored as NAIA All-Americans for their top-30 finishes.
• Tyler Laubach was the third Wildcat across the line in 25:44. Laubach placed 38th in the team competition.
• Josh Neideck was the 48th runner across the line in the team competition with a time of 25:50.
• Josh Wilson was the final scorer for Indiana Wesleyan. He placed 60th in the team competition with a time of 26:56.
• Nathan Gerick and Steven Osladil were the sixth and seventh Wildcats across the finish line. Gerick placed 89th in 26:20 and Osladil was 104th as he cross the finish line in 26:29.

Coaches Corner

• “Everybody was on. It is a rare experience in cross country to have everybody click but they did that today. They were determined and have been committed to their goal for 11 months and they were not going to be denied. We had seven guys run their best race of the year. From one through seven it was a great day. I think they established a new standard for the guys to shoot for in the future.”  -- IWU head coach John Foss

Extra! Extra!

• The previous best finish for an Indiana Wesleyan men’s cross country team at the NAIA National Championship was seventh place. That came in 1996 and IWU scored 297 points.
• Neno Bellinotti joins John Foss (1979 and 1982), Robert Sommers (1991 and 1992), and Luke Baker (1997 and 1999) as the only two-time NAIA All-Americans in Indiana Wesleyan men’s cross country history.

Next Time Out

• The NAIA National Championship race was the final competition of the 2015 season.