SHEPARD, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's cross country team ran at the MIAA Championships on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 29) at Shepard High School. The Hornets finished in sixth, the highest by a men's team at the conference meet since 2009, with 182 points.
Calvin (27 points), Hope (31 points), Trine (75 points), Adrian (132 points), and Olivet (148 points) claimed the top five spots in the meet. Alma (183 points) and Albion (215 points) finished behind the Hornets.
The first-year trio of Will Thomas, Noah Eckenroth, and Kyle Ackerson were the top three runners in their first go-around at the MIAA Championships. Thomas led the way with a 36th-place finish at a time of 26:27, and Eckenroth was in 54th at 27:11. Ackerson had a seven-second improvement on his personal best time this season, crossing the line at 27:50 in 70th.
Team veterans Patrick Dunfee and Garrick Hohm were Kalamazoo's fourth and fifth-best runners. Dunfee had his best race in his three seasons as a Hornet, improving his career-best by three seconds at 28:11, good for 83rd. Hohm was in 98th with a time of 28:46.
Caleb Ewald and Levi Thomas rounded out the scoring for Kalamazoo in the sixth and seventh spots on the team. Ewald ran a 29:32, while Thomas finished at 29:44. Keegan Reynolds also ran and had his career-best time by 45 seconds with a time of 30:22.
"We had some bright spots today with Keegan having a breakthrough race, as well as Ackerson and Dunfee posting lifetime bests," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "We were optimistic about making a bigger jump in the conference standings, but going from eighth to sixth is a good jump. This group is hungry to keep building this program as a competitive team at the top of the MIAA."
The Hornets will now turn their attention to the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional meet. The race will take place in two weeks on Nov. 12 at the West Ottawa Golf Course in Holland, Mich., beginning at 12 p.m.