Results

Berea, Ky – The Patriots had their highest team finish since the 2017 season to start their 2022 campaign. The men finished second at the Berea/Centre Jamboree on Friday evening scoring 59 points, placing two runners in the top-ten and five in the top-20 individually. This meet featured a 5k course for the Pats to begin their season.
 
Newcomer Noah McClellan led the way with the highest individual placing at this meet since the team began racing in Berea in 2017, finishing third out of 84 runners. The sophomore transfer paced a 16:03.82 for his podium finish. He was followed by another new Patriot James Overholser, who crossed the finish line at 16:19.07 for an eighth-place overall finish.
 
Kevin Mengich returned to this course for the second time in his career and used his experience to his advantage. Mengich ran a 16:36.61 Friday evening placing 14^th and cutting over 15 seconds off his finishing time last season.
 
Andrew Barker and Deshawn Crowe rounded out UC's top-five scorers on the day. Barker performed well in his first collegiate race with an 18^th place finish and 16:48.52 5K time. Crowe paced a 17:03.19 for 20^th place, finishing four spots higher than a year ago.
 
Zach Pennington was the sixth Patriot to cross the finish line, pacing a 19:18.83 for 62^nd place. Carson Johnson ran a 20:36.09 while Brian Nwachukwu finished his race in 21:08.97 for 71^st and 74^th place. Chris Greer ran a time of 22:06.91 to complete the day.
 
UC's second place finish is a massive improvement from their seventh-place finish in Berea last season. Centre College won the Jamboree with 30 points, while UC scored 59 in second. Berea College placed third with 73 points while Transylvania and Georgetown rounded out the top-five with 109 and 118 points respectively.
 
"The men did a great job opening the season and knocking down the door for the season opener. We were able to see where we are and now we can go from here." said Head Coach Bradley Sowder about his team's performance to start the season.
 
The Patriots will return to the course in two weeks as they travel to Tallahassee, FL for the NAIA Pre-Nationals Meet. 
 
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