Wabash captured the Great Lakes Colleges Association Men's Cross Country Championship title for the first time since 1998 with a seven-point victory Saturday morning in Gambier, Ohio.
The Little Giants placed four runners in the top 15 places to take home first place. Freshman Seth Einterz finished third with a time of 26:57.7. Junior Sam Compton-Craig was 11th (27:38.0), while senior Geoff Lambert finished right behind in 12th place (27:41.1). Junior Hugh Jackson took 14th place (27:44.6). Senior Ben Bly completed the team scoring for the Little Giants with a 23rd-place finish (28:00.2).
"I was not certain we had won it at first," head coach Roger Busch said. "I was so caught up encouraging Bly to finish strong. He crossed just ahead of a big pack of runners. I wasn't sure whether he had beaten Denison's fifth-place runner or not. When we learned he had, then I felt we might have won the race.
"We ran as a pack toward the front of the race, Seth ran in second for a while, but fell back to third in the final portion. The second-best freshman finish was 25th so I'm excited for him in his first real race at 8,000 meters."
Wabash scored 63 points, seven ahead of second-place Denison. Oberlin was third (83 points), with Albion (97), Kenyon (121), Ohio Wesleyan (121), Wooster, 137, Earlham (208), and Kalamazoo completing the team scoring.
"I think we shocked the GLCA crowd. We were sixth last year, and I think there were a lot of teams that thought they had a chance to win. Our guys really ran up to their abilities. We've typically performed better later in the season. If we continue to train hard, we could have some outstanding performances at the conference and regional races."
The Little Giants will compete at the Indiana Intercollegiate Championships Friday afternoon at Purdue University.
Photo - Sam Compton-Craig, Hugh Jackson, Seth Einterz, and Ben Bly run together in a pack in the early stages of the GLCA Championship race.