The Anderson University men’s cross country team finished second at the nine-team Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kirk Saunders led the Ravens with a seventh place finish in a time of 26:58 and was named the Freshman of the Year as well as to the All-Conference team.

Taylor Holmes (8th, 27:03), Bill Digman (9th, 27:03) and Jake Wyatt (10th, 27:15) were also named All-Conference and Jeff Vibbert (20th, 28:22) was named HM All-Conference.

Other AU finishers were Eric Linn (22nd, 28:27), Andrew Abbott (27th, 28:46), Matt Dougherty (33rd, 28:56), Emby Duncan (34th, 29:01), Drew Beaty (36th, 29:14), Matt St. Amour (38th, 29:22), Marc St. Amour (47th, 29:41), Kyle Schmidt (56th, 30:18) and Dan Malloy (62nd, 30:50).

Manchester won the meet with 21 points, followed by Anderson (53), Franklin (74), Rose-Hulman (79), Defiance (147), Hanover (183), Mt. St. Joe (inc.), Bluffton (inc.) and Transyvlania (inc.).

For complete meet results go to: http://www.runningtime.net/Races/XCHeartland2009/MenOver.htm

The Anderson University men’s cross country team finished 17th in the 21-team Notre Dame Invitational on Friday in South Bend.

Bill Digman led the Ravens with a 74th place finish in a time of 26:32. Other AU finishers were Kirk Saunders (88th, 26:51), Jake Wyatt (100th, 27:13), Taylor Holmes (119th, 27:46), Emby Duncan (126th, 28:09), Eric Linn (128th, 28:15) and Andrew Abbott (129th, 28:16).

“Our men ran a steady race,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “We had several personal bests which is a good sign. We are a young team and adjusting to an 8K race takes time. I know they are putting in the work.”

AU runs at the Manchester Invitational on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m.

The Anderson University men’s cross country team finished seventh in the 14-team Indiana Intercollegiates meet on Friday at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

Kirk Saunders led the Ravens with a 13th place finish in a time of 27:12. Other AU finishers were Bill Digman (24th, 27:41), Jake Wyatt (28th, 27:49), Ryan Daugherty (42nd, 28:14), Andrew Abbott (50th, 28:47), Matt Doughterty (52nd, 28:50) and Taylor Holmes (56th, 28:59).

“This was a good test for us,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “It was good to see our team in action over a full length (8K) and we will get better over the course of the season. We are training pretty well so we hope to see progress in the coming weeks.”

AU runs next at the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished fourth in the five-team Wabash Invitational on Saturday in Crawfordsville. The Raven men were fifth.

AU women finishers were DeLong/Moffitt (6th), Bordner/Reiff (13th) and Terrill/Clevenger (21st). DeLong ran mile times of 5:58, 5:58 and Moffitt’s marks were 6:11 and 6:16.

AU men finishers were Saunders/Wyatt (8th), Duncan/Dougherty (14th) and Holmes/Digman (15th). Sanders ran mile times of 4:56, 4:52, 4:50 while Wyatt’s marks were 4:57, 5:06 and 5:02.

“We gave a good effort,” said coach Scott Wilson. “The teams here today are good, but at looking at our individual results we did ok.  This meet is part of the process of training and racing.  We just need to keep working at it each day.   We get to test ourselves at real race distance at our next meet.”

AU runs at the Indiana Intercollegiate meet in Terre Haute on Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m.

The Anderson University men’s cross country team finished fourth in the nine-team Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday in North Manchester.

Matt Helm finished sixth in a time of 26:34 to lead the Ravens and was named All-Conference. Jake Wyatt was 11th in a time of 26:48, earning All-Conference and Freshman of the Year honors. Also finishing in the top 20 was Kyle Schmidt (15th, 27:14).

“Our guys battled and had a good effort today,” said coach Scott Wilson. “We came up short on our team goal, but we had some bright spots to be proud of. Matt lead the way for us again and has been consistent all year. Jake gained double honors and Kyle Schmidt had his best race of the year and was honorable mention. We had a group of freshman run very well and that is something to build on.”

Other AU finishers were Matt St. Amour (21st, 27:30), Tony Pryor (25th, 27:43), Emby Duncan (26th, 27:45), Matt Dougherty (27th, 27:45), Marc St. Amour (34th, 28:10), Frankie Dixon (39th, 28:33), Kenton Pratt (40th, 28:37), Troy Pryor (47th, 29:12), Drew Beaty (58th, 29:52), Perry Childs (59th, 29:54), Dan Malloy (69th, 30:41) and Ryan Ash (79th, 31:26).

Franklin won the championship with 46 points. Rose-Hulman was second (48), followed by Manchester (63), Anderson (78), Hanover (169), Defiance (178), Mt. St. Joseph (181), Bluffton (inc.) and Transylvania (inc.).