Senior Dan Ruge (Chesterton, IN/Chesterton) (photo left) finished 10th at the annual North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championship on Saturday, earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team for the second consecutive season. The Little Giants finished sixth in the final team scoring.
Ruge toured the 8k course in 27:11 to earn his highest finish in four years at the event, run at the L.C. Boles Golf Course in Wooster, Ohio. Freshman Dennis Frazee (Griffith, IN/Calumet) was 31st with a time of 28:44. Dustin Beck (New Carlisle, IN/New Prairie) earned a 34th-place finish after running the course in 28:50 in the freshman's first conference championship meet. Senior Dan Sweet (West Bloomfield, MI/Culver Military Academy) (37th; 28:52) and Ethan Paul (Evansville, IN/Reitz Memorial) (40th, 28:57) rounded out the scoring for the Red Pack.
Wabash finished with 152 points. Kenyon finished first with 52 points, followed by Allegheny (56), Wooster (58), Oberlin (138), and Denison (149). Ohio Wesleyan (153) was seventh, with Earlham (158), Hiram (244), and Wittenberg (287) rounding out the scoring.
"While I had hoped we would finish higher in the team scoring, I'm pleased with the effort," said head coach Rob Johnson. "I thought we might be able to get a fourth- or fifth-place finish, but with our youth and some of our injuries, I'm really pleased with our overall individual results. Ruge ran extremely well to grab another All-Conference spot. I was really pleased with the way Zach Eichel (JR/Columbus, IN/Columbus North) came back from his stress fracture. We know we need to do some things to get even better in two weeks at the NCAA Regional."
The Little Giants will run in the Regional race at Hanover College on Saturday, November 15.