Results
Bowling Green, KY – The men's cross country team left everything they had on the course as they earned a runner-up finish at the MSC Championships, their highest placing since the 2008 season. The Patriots, who were ranked sixth in the preseason conference poll, tallied 51 points on the day and were just 10 away from the first place finisher.
 
Noah McClellan continued to be the Patriots front-runner on Friday, as he placed fifth overall for First-Team All-Conference honors. McClellan paced a 27:08.6 for his top-five finish, and qualified for the NAIA National Championships later this month.
 
Kevin Mengich and Deshawn Crowe accompanied their teammate McClellan on the MSC First-Team as they placed eighth and 10^th on the day. Mengich finished his 8k in 27:24.6 for his highest placing at the conference tournament. Crowe ran a 27:28.8 for his top-ten finish, also a personal best finish at this meet.
 
Junior Kyle Woodward was the next Patriot to cross the finish line. He paced a 27:38.2 8k for 12^th place and Second-Team All-Conference honors. This is the second straight year that Woodward has been on an All-Conference team. James Overholser was the final scorer for Cumebrlands today. He placed 16^th after clocking a time of 28:00.04 in his first MSC championship meet, and was the final Patriot featured on the All-Conference team this year.
 
Andrew Barker ran a good race in his first conference meet, placing 27^th with a time of 28:39. Dillan Melchiore was the next UC runner to finish, running a 30:05.6 for 56^th. Lonnell Johnson, Zach Pennington, and Daniel Joseph finished within seven spots of each other with times of 31:12.8, 32:01.9, and 32:08.9. Clay Hogue and Brian Nwachukwu rounded out the day for UC, running their 8k's in 32:57.4 and 37:09.4 respectively.
 
"The men have continued to progress throughout the season," said Head Coach Bradley Sowder. "We had a plan for the race and followed it, but came up just short. Our team can be frustrated with the outcome but can't be disappointed in how we performed."
 
The Bears of Shawnee State scored 41 points on the day to secure the conference championship. Cumberlands tallied 51 points for second while Cumberland University finished third with 74. Lindsey Wilson and Campbellsville completed the top five teams on Friday with 119 and 131 points respectively.
 
UC's 51 points today is over 130 points better than their score at this meet a season ago, and gives them momentum headed into the indoor track and field season. Noah McClellan will make the trip to Tallahassee, FL in two weeks for the NAIA National Championships.
 
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