OXFORD, Ohio -- Behind a time of 26:10.7 that put Eli Lengl as not only the top Shawnee State finisher, but the top River States Conference finisher at the 2025 #JennaStrong Cross Country Classic, the sophomore from Sunbury was named as the River States Conference's Runner of the Week, as announced by conference officials in a release put out Monday afternoon.

Lengl, who posted a time of 26:10.7 in the #JennaStrong Fall Classic, was the fastest River States Conference runner in the race and the fifth-fastest NAIA runner in the field of 251 participants. Lengl was one of six NAIA runners in the entire field to run underneath a 26:15 in the race, with his teammate, Kaiden Lanoy, joining him in finishing underneath that cutline.

The finish marks the third time that Lengl has finished inside the top-35 of a cross country meet this season. Lengl finished 19th in the highly-competitive Thundering Herd XC Invitational -- which featured two NCAA Division I programs in Marshall and Ohio as well as No. 23 Rio Grande -- and finished 32nd out of 303 runners in the 2025 Twilight Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.

"It's great to see Eli bounce back this week and earn River States Conference Runner of the Week honors," Lengl said. "He is looking great at this point in the season, and I'm looking forward to watching him continue to progress."

The men's cross country program at Shawnee State will be back in action alongside the women's cross country program in the Bears' final meet of the regular season -- the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, which is being held at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 25.

For more information on the Shawnee State men's cross country program, follow the Bears on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shawnee_state_xctf/.