BOLIVAR, Mo. – Lewis University reclaimed the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Men's Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the Bolivar Municipal Golf Course in Bolivar, Missouri.
One year removed from finishing runner-up by a single point, the 11th-ranked Flyers totaled 44 points for their 16th league title to overtake last year’s champion University of Illinois Springfield that scored 55 points for second place. Lewis had five runners finish in the top 15 and seven in the top 20.
Drury University was close behind in third place with 64 points, while University of Missouri-St. Louis was a distant fourth with 120 points for its best finish at the Conference meet ahead of Missouri S&T in fifth with 166 points.
Sixth-place and host Southwest Baptist University was only three points back of S&T with 169 points to finish ahead of seventh-place University of Indianapolis (183), eighth-place Truman State University (226), ninth-place Maryville University (252), and 10th-place Rockhurst University (270).
Rounding out the field of 13 teams was McKendree University (347) in 11th, Quincy University (393) in 12th, and William Jewell College (406) in 13th.
Illinois Springfield won its fourth-straight individual title, as junior Cortland Ross broke the tape first in an 8,000-meter time of 24 minutes, 36.80 seconds. Former Prairie Star Blake Jones started the trend as a back-to-back winner in 2020 and 2021, while Wyatt McIntyre won last year.
Missouri-St. Louis junior Benjamin VandenBrink claimed runner-up honors at 24 minutes, 49.28 seconds after a 13th-place showing a year ago. UIS junior Noah McIntyre took third at 24:58.61, Lewis freshman Evan Horgan claimed fourth at 25:03.38, and UMSL senior Jacob Warner nabbed rounded out the top five in fifth at 25:05.99.
Lewis seniors Daniel Arimi (25:11.61) and Sean Ryan (25:12.07), as well as Drury freshmen Tyler Harris (25:13.27) and Thomas Shuster (25:15.54) finished sixth through ninth, respectively, while 10th went to UIS junior Briar Nevills (25:20.54). S&T junior Lucas Rackers (25:31.07) and Drury junior Santiago Nunez (25:32.98) went 11-12, while 13th through 15th were taken, respectively, by Lewis senior Evan Jamrozy (25:35.24), Lewis sophomore Zach Dunn (25:39.63), and Drury sophomore Ethan Haynes (25:41.04). Rounding out the top 20 with All-Conference distinction in 16th-20th were the following runners: Lewis junior Jacob Kodrick (25:44.85), UIS junior Ryan Jones (25:50.49), UIndy sophomore Tom Saint-Juvin (25:55.53), Lewis senior Payton Goudreau (25:56.70), and Drury freshman Trent Patterson (25:57.34).
At the conclusion of the GLVC Championship, Ross was honored as GLVC Runner of the Year, Horgan was named the league's top newcomer as Freshman of the Year, and Lewis head coach James Kearney was honored by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year for the third time. Horgan is the 10th Flyer to win the award and first since Anthony Farmer snagged it in 2020.
After the race, 13 student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior were named as their sport's GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honoree. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
For the third time in league history, the GLVC Championship was carried live on the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN). The broadcast can be found in the "On Demand" section on all GLVCSN platforms, including GLVCSN.com, GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as GLVCSN OTT platforms on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.
2023 GLVC POSTSEASON AWARDS
GLVC CHAMPIONS/RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Cortland Ross, Illinois Springfield
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Evan Horgan, Lewis
COACH OF THE YEAR: James Kearney, Lewis
ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES (in order of top-20 finish)
Cortland Ross, UIS
Benjamin VandenBrink, UMSL
Noah McIntyre, UIS
Evan Horgan, LEWIS
Jacob Warner, UMSL
Daniel Arimi, LEWIS
Sean Ryan, LEWIS
Tyler Harris, DU
Thomas Shuster, DU
Briar Nevills, UIS
Lucas Rackers, S&T
Santiago Nunez, DU
Evan Jamrozy, LEWIS
Zack Dunn, LEWIS
Ethan Haynes, DU
Jacob Kodrick, LEWIS
Ryan Jones, UIS
Tom Saint-Juvin, UINDY
Payton Goudreau, LEWIS
Trent Patterson, DU
2023 GLVC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Santiago Nunez, DU
Zach Panek, UIS
Harnoor Dosanjh, UINDY
Charlie Wirth, LEWIS
Dawson McCown, MU
Braden Voss, MCK
Spencer Teske, S&T
Michael Wright, UMSL
David Snider, QU
Jack Del Vecchio, RU
Zane Hull, SBU
Ryan Harness, TSU
Harley Branch, WJC
2023 GLVC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Southwest Baptist