Men's Cross Country Places 13th at CCAC Championships
VALPARAISO, IN—Governors State closed its men's cross country season with a 13th-place finish at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, held Saturday at the Robbinhurst Golf Course.
No. 13th-ranked St. Francis captured its sixth-straight title with 31 points, edging out 11th-ranked Olivet Nazarene (39 points). Both schools will advance to the NAIA Championships. Saint Xavier claimed third (72), finishing ahead of Trinity Christian (130), St. Ambrose (137), Cardinal Stritch (181), Trinity International (238), IU South Bend (250), Calumet St. Joseph (262), Robert Morris (282), Judson (311), Roosevelt (332) and Governors State (343). IU Northwest, which joined the CCAC this season, did not score.
Senior Wesley Meyer of Olivet Nazarene won the individual 8K title with a time of 25:09.0, finishing 17 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
GSU was paced by Nick Bushey, who finished 93rd overall with a time of 31:55.4. Omari Coleman finished second on the team, clocking 32:51.9 while Manny Perezchica completed the course in 33:26.8, just ahead of teammate Daniel Perez (33:29.5). Rounding out GSU's lineup were Danny Nguyen (37:27.8, PR), Cristian Espinoza (39:26.5) and Matthew McNeil (40:43.7). The lone senior on the squad, McNeil finished his career as the GSU's first four-year XC performer and all-time leader in race appearances (23).
"Our freshmen runners experienced a high-caliber meet that they had never encountered before," said fifth-year Head Coach Kevin Kredens. "Looking at what our guys did today against the other 10-to 14th place teams, I think we are getting there in terms of the progress. Matt received a nice sendoff by his teammates, which was great to see."
