OLIVET, Mich.-- The Trine men's cross country team finished third in the MIAA Championship race Saturday at Olivet College for the program's best conference finish since 2007.
Trine's performance followed another third-place outing in the Jamboree last month to earn an overall third-place result in the MIAA. This is only the second time since joining the conference in 2004 that the Thunder have achieved a top-three team mark.
Setting the pace for Trine was Kody Snyder (Burnettsville, Ind./Twin Lakes). The freshman led all Thunder runners with a 15th place finish, scoring 52 points. With his second straight team-best showing, Snyder is solidifying himself as a top runner in the cross country program.
Depth proved important for the Thunder, with four other members of the squad turning in top-30 performances. Sophomores Ricardo Castillo (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) and Collin Elek (Osceola, Ind./Penn), freshman Nicholas Zak (St. John, Ind./Hanover Central) and senior Michael Becker (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) all recorded important points in the championship race. Scoring multiple runners in the top half of the conference was a result of several individual season-best times.
Finishing off the scoring for the Thunder were sophomores Cody Verhey (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) and Robert Duke (Greentown, Ind./Eastern).
Overcoming injuries revealed Trine's resolve at Olivet. "The biggest thing is even though we ran without three of our top four guys due to injury – Adam Schaaf, Austin Ganger and Garrett Benedict were all out today – we were still able to get our highest finish in the conference since 2007," said Head Coach Zach Raber.
The Thunder's high finish despite obstacles is encouraging and shows signs of good things to come. Six of Trine's seven scorers in the MIAA Championship race are freshmen or sophomores.
"We return all our varsity guys next year but [Michael] Becker. Our goal is to win the meet next year," said Raber.
Trine Cross Country is back in action in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional at Terre Haute, Indiana on November 14th.
Article courtesy Luke Fimreite, Trine Univeristy, Business Administration '16
