MARION, Ind. -- The men's cross country program at Shawnee State again backed up its preseason national ranking with another strong effort at the Indiana Wesleyan University Twilight Meet, as brothers Isaiah and
Trevor Lanoy each posted top-20 runs for the Bears while
Eli Lengl nabbed a top-35 finish in his first 8K with SSU in a seventh-place team showing for the Bears Friday evening at the IWU Cross Country Course in Marion, Ind.
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MEET SUMMARY
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No. 24 Shawnee State, who scored 196 points in Friday's meet, matched No. 25 Rio Grande's exact total of 196 tallies. Shawnee State finished just 10 points back of fifth place in the tightly-contested meet.
No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan's 42 points bettered that of No. 3 Taylor, who finished second with 81 markers. No. 5 Marian's 110 tallies was third on the board.
Isaiah and
Trevor Lanoy each finished comfortably in the top-20 as both talents were consistent with their work on Friday, finishing 17th and 18th with times of 25:13.80 and 25:14.50, respectively.
Behind them,
Eli Lengl showcased impressive improvement from his fastest 8K time as a transfer from NCAA Division II Findlay as Lengl ripped off a 25:32.4 -- a time that was almost 49 seconds faster than his previous personal best.
Connor Darnell, who ran a 26:10.8, posted an impressive time in his first race since last October after missing the remaining portion of the men's cross country season and all of the indoor and outdoor track and field campaign due to a lower body injury. The Manchester product ultimately finished 70th in the field of 304 runners.
"The men battled and ran aggressive," Flynn said. "There was a lot of good this evening, and also a lot to learn from. Isaiah, Trevor, and Eli had a great day. I also can't speak enough on the performance
Connor Darnell had in his first race in 10 months."
Jerry O'Dell, who claimed 79th on the leaderboard, followed right behind Darnell -- as O'Dell's 26:17.8 was exactly a 17 second personal best for the junior to round out the main scoring group for Shawnee State.
Behind O'Dell,
Garrett Carver (165th, 27:34.21),
Kaiden Lanoy (179th, 27:40.50),
Walker Pannell (211th, 28:12.30),
Dakotah Sanders (228th, 28:40.90),
Malachi Shugert (276th, 30:23.40) and
Jared Flowers (291st, 32:02.90) rounded out the remaining Shawnee State runners.
The Shawnee State men, along with the Shawnee State women, are back in action Friday, Sept. 19 when both cross country squads compete at the annual All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic, which will be held at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on the campus of Cedarville University.
For more information on the Shawnee State men's cross country program, visitÂ
https://ssubears.com/sports/mens-cross-country or head toÂ
https://www.instagram.com/shawnee_state_xctf/.
