MEN'S RESULTS
SALEM, Ore. – Both senior Kody Shriver and freshman Jack Howard qualified as individuals for the NAIA National Meet, and the Eastern Oregon University men's cross country team earned a fourth-place finish at the 2015 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Championships. The Mountaineers have sent a runner to Nationals every year since 1987.
Shriver (26:26.0) and Howard (26:27.1) took ninth and 10th, respectively, to pace the Mountaineers, who earned 113 points as a team. EOU ousted (RV) Oregon Tech by 12 points, and the Navy and Gold also finished ahead of Corban, Northwest, and Warner Pacific.
Both Shriver and Howard also earned all-conference recognition.
"Outstanding race for the men," said head cross country coach Ben Welch. "Kody and Jack came in as about the 16th and 24th rated guys, respectively, based off previous races this fall. To finish ninth and 10th in this conference is very tough to begin with, but in light of their pre-meet rankings, it was a very impressive run."
No. 1 Southern Oregon clinched the men's title, as the Raiders saw four runners finish in the top seven. Meanwhile, No. 9 College of Idaho and No. 21 Northwest Christian took third and fourth, respectively.
Freshman Lane Inwards crossed the finish line at the 27:21.9 mark to muster a 28th-place finish, while junior Dylan Hartley took 30th with a time of 27:36.3.
"As a team we were the No. 6 seed on the men's side, with four of the five teams ahead of us having been ranked or currently ranked in the top 25," said Welch. "To finish fourth in such a loaded field and almost take out No. 21 Northwest Christian is an impressive run."
In addition, sophomore Andrew Duffy (28:10.14) rounded out the scoring for the Navy and Gold, as he finished 36th overall and fifth on the squad.
"Another outstanding run was Andrew as our No. 5 man," said Welch. "All of the guys significantly improved on their performances here from the CCC Preview six weeks ago."
The NAIA National Meet will take place on Nov. 21 in Charlotte, N.C.
Highlights courtesy of CorbanWarriors.com.
