YSU Cross Country Men are Runner-Up at Horizon League Championship

by YSU

Sunday, Nov 3, 2013 7:31 am

Boardman - The Youngstown State men's cross country team took part in the 2013 Horizon League Championship this Saturday afternoon and finished second behind Detroit. Junior Eric Rupe made history today being the first Penguin ever to win this race.

Rupe led the Penguins in the 8k race finishing first out of 78 runners and running a time of 25:41 while the next Guin to finish was sophmore Austin McLean placing fifth with a time of 26:04 missing the top three by 10 seconds.

The men lost to Detroit by 39 points but beat Wright State by three points, Oakland by 12 points, Milwaukee by 17 points, UIC by 75 points, Valparaiso by 123 points and Green Bay by 130 points. YSU's men have finished in seventh place the last two years and this second-place finish is a huge improvement for the team with it being the first-time ever the YSU men have finished in the top two.

YSU had three men make the all-league teams with Rupe and McLean earning First-Team All-League and Nick Gliha who finished 12th with a time of 26:24 making second-team all-league. Another award went to Rupe who earned himself the 2013 Horizon League Cross Country Male Athlete-of-the-Year Award.

With Rupe, McLean and Gliha finishing in the top 12 other Penguins who finished in the race were sophomore John Hutynan who finished 22nd at 26:50, and freshman John Richmond who had an impressive outing in the race being able to scoot by his competition at the last part of the race to finish 32nd at 27:10.

Sophomore Kyle Joynes (27:28), freshman Ethan Wilson (28:10), and sophomore Ryan Sowards (29:05) also ran with it being Joynes and Sowards first race of the year.

"It was awesome to see such a great turn out with the support of the YSU crowd especially with the weather conditions. Their support definitely made a huge impact on how our cross country teams did today giving them the extra motivation throughout the race," Coach Gorby said.

The men will look forward to their next race as they take on the Great Lakes Regional in Madison, Wis.

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