Friday was a good time for the Mount Vernon Nazarene cross country teams, as the men’s squad finished second and the women’s team came in third at the Huntington University (Ind.) Invitational on Oct. 1.
The men competed against eight other teams in an 8K run, and the women placed third of eight teams in a 5K.
On the men’s side, Justis Paul was the top finisher for the Cougars as he finished ninth overall with a time of 26:59.4. Noah Stephens finished in 16th place with a time of 27:57.2, and Sam Swanger came in 18th place overall. He ran the event in 28:10.4.
MVN cross country head coach Simon Taylor said, “It was encouraging to have most of our guys back. We had a strong pack tonight and looking to continuing building these next few weeks.”
The women’s team was led by Morgan Forney, who finished eighth overall with a time of 19:42.9. Macy Weaver was right behind her teammate as she finished 10th with a time of 19:52.7. Ellyn Coe ran the 5k in 20:23.2, which was good enough for 12th place and Emilie Lemon finished 20th with a time of 21:24.7.
“We again had a strong front two in Morgan and Macy," Taylor said. "I was encouraged to see our freshman close the gap a little. It was good for our underclassmen to see the conference course.”
