Franklin Men Earn First Ever HCAC Cross Country Championship
November 1, 2008
N. MANCHESTER , IN - Franklin College 's men's cross country team captured their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship on November 1. The Grizzlies claimed five of the top 20 individual places en route to posting a score of 46 at the meet held at Manchester College . Manchester College junior Andy Williams (Middlebury , Ind.) won the individual title for the first time in his career.
Williams ended a string of 11 consecutive Anderson runners that have earned the championship at the HCAC meet. He finished the 8K course on Saturday afternoon in a time of 25:37. His effort was 12 seconds faster than second-place finisher Brandon Welti (Sunman , Ind. ) of Franklin College . Williams was named HCAC Most Valuable Player for his performance.
Welti joined Williams on the All-HCAC team which is awarded to the top 12 finishers. The other Franklin runners to earn the recognition on Saturday were senior Sean Kennedy (Connersville , Ind. ) and sophomore Jacob Hojnacki (LaPorte , Ind. ) .
Jake Wyatt (Hudson , Ind. ) of Anderson was named the HCAC Freshman of the Year. He was the top finishing freshman at the meet placing eleventh overall with a time of 26:48.
Finishing in second place in the team standings was Rose-Hulman with a score of 48. Manchester placed third with a score of 63 and was followed by Anderson (78) in fourth position. Hanover (169), Defiance (178), and Mount St. Joseph (181) rounded out the team standings. Bluffton and Transylvania competed in the meet but did not post a team score.
Rose-Hulman's Ian Thomas (Penville , Ind. ), David Caldwell (Plymouth , Ind. ), Stephen Boedicker (Delaware , Ohio ), and Mitchell Thomas (Penville , Ind. ), Manchester 's Kyle Pletcher (Walkerton , Ind. ), Anderson's Matt Helm (Wabash, Ind.), and Mount St. Joseph's Jeff Schroer (Cincinnati, Ohio) were also named to the All-HCAC team.
Franklin head coach Paul Sargent was named HCAC Coach of the Year for his efforts in leading the Grizzlies to the conference title.