Men’s Cross Country Finish Strong at Great Lakes Regional

Tiffin, Ohio – November 14, 2009 –The Heidelberg University men’s cross country team raced to a second place finish today, November 14, at the 2009 Division III Great Lakes Regional tournament hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. Under the guidance of second-year head coach, Keith Roberts Jr., the Berg was able to snag one-of-sixteen automatic bids to the NCAA Division III Championships after their second place finish.
 
Heidelberg had four runners receive all-region for their finishes in the tournament. Seniors Devin Butcher (Bowling Green, Oh. / Bowling Green) and Scott Lasch (Huron, Oh. / Huron) received their fourth all-region honor and Jacob Lemon (Oak Harbor, Oh. / Oak Harbor) received the honor for the second time. Sophomore Jordan Karnes (Edgerton, Oh. / Edgerton) raced into the top finishes for his first all-region honor.
 
Heidelberg recorded 94 points to finish behind defending champions Calvin College (73). Rounding out the top five were Manchester (150), Mount Union (192), and Case Western (196).
 
This placing ties the record for best finish ever at Heidelberg. The Berg is making its fourth-straight trip to nationals and seventh overall (1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).
 
Leading the way for Heidelberg was Butcher racing in for an overall finish at fifth place. He ran a very strategic race and nearly kicked down the front four pack of runners in the last stretch of the race. Although, still able to cross the finish line at a time of 25:56.45.
 
Lasch led the lead pack several times throughout the race and finished 12th overall and came in with a time of 26:15.49 to receive his honor. After finishing seventh on the team at the national meet as a freshman last season, Jordan Karnes stepped it up this season as he finished the race as Heidelberg's third runner at 16th (26:23.43). Lemon found his way back into the runners with a 25th place finish (26:39.77). Rounding out the top five finishers was sophomore John Gogle (Sunbury, Oh. / Big Walnut) who missed an all-region honor by one spot coming in at 36th place (26:49.91).
 
Heidelberg will compete at the NCAA Division III Championships Saturday November 21 at 11 am hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College.