POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. —The Cedarville University men’s and women’s cross country teams both claimed National Christian College Athletic Association titles, Nov. 16, on the Bobcat Course at the College of the Ozarks.
The Yellow Jackets men’s team placed five runners in the Top 10 and cruised to the NCCAA men’s title. Cedarville tallied 28 points while Campbellsville was next with 91. Grace finished third with 94 points. It’s the Jackets’ sixth title in school history.
Andrew Sholl was the individual runner-up after covering the 8,000-meter layout in 26 minutes, 30.8 seconds.
Caleb Pendleton was fourth in 26:40.1 and Russell Schultz came in fifth in 26:40.7.
Trent Classen finished seventh in 26:56.3 while Avery Traffie was tenth in 27:09.6.
All five Yellow Jackets were recognized as NCCAA All-Americans and Paul Orchard was selected the National Coach of the Year.
Rounding out the CU lineup were Isaiah Kelly (13th; 27:22.8) and Luke Bredeson (25th; 28:02.8).
Bredeson, David Gibbs, Kevin Gideon, Andrew LeMesurier, Ford McElroy, Micah McKanna, Joel Pensworth, Andrew Testas, and Ryan Vojtisek are NCCAA Scholar-Athletes.
The list includes juniors and seniors, who maintain a minimum 3.40 cumulative grade point average.
In the women’s race, Cedarville had six of the top eight finishers to win the women’s title, the Jackets’ 12th title in the program’s history and the third in the last five years.
Alayna Ackley took runner-up honors in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 18:30.2.
Rachel Sweeney (19:04.5), Bethany Sholl (19:11.4), Remington Hobson (19:19.4), and Grace Norman (19:21.2) finished in positions two-through-six, respectively.
Amy Plank was eighth in 19:45.2 while Hannah Rhem placed 17th in 20:21.2.
Ackley, Sweeney, Sholl, Hobson, Norman, and Plank were all recognized as NCCAA All-Americans as Top 10 finishers.
Jeff Bolender was tabbed NCCAA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Cedarville totaled 28 points. Bethel was second with 75 points with Ozarks third with 81.
