Men's cross country off to National Championship for fourth straight year
It was made official on Tuesday night that the Goshen men's cross country team will compete at the NAIA National Championship for the fourth year in a row. The meet will be held on November 18 in Tallahassee, Florida.
The men earned one of the 14 at-large spots after finishing sixth in the competitive Crossroads League Championship last weekend. The other conference schools at the national meet are Grace, Huntington, Indiana Wesleyan, Spring Arbor and Taylor. The field comprises 36 teams, with 22 that were named automatic qualifiers by winning the conference championship meet or by being the meet runner-up (for a conference with more than one automatic qualifier). An oversight committee determined the at-large berths.
Now in its 67th year, the meet will be in Tallahassee for the first time. The course will be located at the Apalachee Regional Park. While not ranked in the top 25, Goshen is the top school in the receiving votes category with 97 points. Vanguard (Calif.) is in 25th with 102 points.
This is the 11th time a Goshen team has qualified for the NAIA national championship. In addition to the men's cross country national trips in 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the women's basketball team qualified in 2004 and 2016, while men's soccer reached the final site in 1971, 1973, 1977 and 2006. The cross country team finished 27th in the 2014 national championship, 20th in 2019, 22nd in 2020 and 24th in 2021.
Nelson Kemboi has the fastest time on the team this season, running a 24:57.8 8k at the Live in Lou Classic. Other top finishers this year have been Drew Hogan, Liam Elias, Jackson Steinmetz and Anthony Roberts.
The men's race will begin at 8:30 am on November 18. Visit Tallahassee / Leon County is hosting the meet. The women's team narrowly missed the cut to make it to the national championships but was still receiving votes in the final coaches poll.
You can stay tuned to GoLeafs.net and the Maple Leafs' official social media accounts for more information as the meet nears.
Original source can be found here.
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