Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
TERRE HAUTE, IN - Grace College sophomore James Kennedy put his name on the map Saturday, defeating every college runner in the state at the Indiana Intercollegiate meet hosted by Indiana State University.
This meet included teams from Butler, Indiana, Purdue, Indiana State and Ball State.
Kennedy outdistanced Butler's Justin Young and Taylor's Gabe Rop to win the event. However, the victory was not without a bit of intrigue.
Kennedy and Young battled through the first four miles of the event. Rop, who finished fifth at the NAIA National Meet last year for Taylor, was more than 15 seconds behind the top two runners after four miles.
However, a meet official directed the first six runners down a path that added more than 1.5 miles to the race. It is estimated the Kennedy would have run about 22:30, which would be one of the best times in the country.
"James Kennedy ran a gutsy race, beating two of the top runners in the country," Grace cross country coach Kirk Heng said. "James is currently one of the best runners in the nation."
With Kennedy's performance, the Lancer men ended seventh out of 15 Little State teams. Overall, Grace ended 13th out of 23 schools.
Tim Sprankle ended 28th with a time of 26:58 and Paul Paschal finished 37th with a time of 27:13.
"The men's team ran very well against some of the top teams in the nation," Heng said.
Taylor is currently third in the NAIA and Huntington is ninth. Taylor finished first while Huntington ended fourth among Little State competitors.
The women's team finished 11th in the Little State competition as freshman Kristen Haines ran to a 40th-place finish with a personal-best time of 20:52.
The Grace College men and women will compete at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
INDIANA INTERCOLLEGIATE MEET
LITTLE STATE TEAM SCORES - TAYLOR 56, SOUTHERN INDIANA 78, ANDERSON 103, HUNTINGTON 107, INDIANAPOLIS 114, WABASH 126, GRACE 166, ST. JOSEPH 175, IPFW 236, HANOVER 316, INDIANA SE 338, FRANKLIN 378,
BETHEL 380, MANCHESTER 390, OAKLAND CITY 395
GRACE MEN'S RESULTS
(LITTLE STATE) - 1. James Kennedy no time, 28. Tim Sprankle 26:58, 37. Paul Paschal 27:13, 42. Sy Belohlavek 27:27, 58. Dan Kramer 28:12, 72. Tim Robertson 28:45, 84. David Holabeck 29:22, 90. David Robertson 29:50, 91. Josh Yoder 29:54 GRACE WOMEN'S RESULTS (LITTLE STATE) - 40.
Kristen Haines 20:52, 59. Chrissy Moyer 21:40, 67. Jenny Day 21:57, 72. Meredith Simpson 23:16, 74. Cassandra Hudyk 23:25, 76. Christy Hoerr 24:04
