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HU cross country announces results of opening day meet at IWU

Sophomores Emma Wilson and Hailey Stutzman topped the women’s 5K and men’s 8K, respectively, at the Indiana Wesleyan University Twilight on opening day of the Foresters’ cross country season. Wilson and Stutzman were also named the Crossroads League Cross Country Runners of the Week for their work in the IWU Invite.

This is the second year in a row that Huntington has won both races, with Adrien Gentie and Hannah Stoffel topping the field last fall.

For Wilson, it was her debut in Forester green and white and her performance did not disappoint. In addition to running away from the field, with over 50 seconds between her and the next finisher, the University of Illinois transfer also broke Stoffel’s course record from last year by clocking in at 17:01.6 and rewrote the HU record books with a new program-best 5K time.

The next Forester to cross the line was freshman Sydney Lambert who finished 8th in 18:44.4. Coach Nick Johnson had this to say about his standout rookie, “Sydney had an incredible debut. She has a great career ahead of her.”

Saige Norris ran a 19:35.9 to claim 25th out of 180 runners. Olivia Von Gunten turned in a 20:13.9 to take 50th while Jessica Chojnacki rounded out Huntington’s scoring with her 57th place finish in 20:26.8 for a new PR.

Other harriers for HU included Ireland Dodson (64th, 20:38.0, PR), Erin Manchess (80th, 21:22.1), Isabel Hunter (100th, 21:37.7), Emma St. Peters (113th, 22:08.6), Lauren Marsh (125th, 22:30.5), Meg McDonald (140th, 23:10.4), Shaylynn Reyes (141st, 23:16.2) and Lauren Craig (157th, 24:13.0). As a team, Johnson’s crew finished fifth out of 18 teams with 141 points. Taylor took home the title with 73 points. The other three teams to round out the top five included Trine (81), IWU (130) and Cornerstone (139).

On the men’s side, Stutzman ran a brilliant race to lead his team to a second place finish out of 18 teams. The Silverton, OR native averaged a 5:02.8 mile to finish in 25:05.1 at the top spot out of 214 runners. Adrien Gentie took fourth place in 25:24.8 while Kent Yoder just missed out on a Top 10 finish by clocking in at 25:49.0 to claim 11th place.

Elijah Chesterman po-sted a time of 26:11.1 to finish 20th. Aaron Hendryx ran a 26.35.3 for 33rd to round out Huntington’s scoring. Other runners for HU included Austin Liepe, 40th, with a 26:47.6 (PR), Drake Kropf, 55th, with 27:18.2 (PR), Matthew Hyter, 75th, with a 27:38.0, Kody Ahrens, 118th, with a 28:45.0, Justin Ayers, 149th, with a 29:35.9, Logan Busz, 161st, with a 30:06.7 (PR) and Justin Edwards, 172nd, with a 30:36.0 (PR).

Taylor won the men’s title with 63 points. Rounding out the top five included HU (69), Trine (94), IWU (96) and Cornerstone (102).

“Overall, I was really pleased with the performances of both teams,” noted Johnson. “Our kids have been working extremely hard and that showed in some great workouts today. We’re excited to see what the future holds for this group.

“Our new kids had incredible runs today with a lot of them posting personal bests.”

The next event for the Foresters will be the Taylor University Invitational to be held on Friday, Sept. 18.