Joplin, Missouri -- The Indian Hills men's cross country team had a strong showing in the program's first-ever trip to the Southern Stampede on Saturday. Competing along with a number of NCAA and NAIA schools in a meet hosted by Missouri Southern State University, the 25th-ranked Warriors finished 8th in their division and defeated Butler CC (Kans.), a top-20 school, in the process.
Conner Riley led the Warriors for the third time is as many meets this fall, completing the 8,000 meter course in 27:14 to finish 21st overall. It was a personal-best time for Riley, the sophomore running in his first 8K race of the season. Ethan Mesenbrink was close to breaking the 28-minute barrier, crossing in 28:03, good for 47th place. Zach Schocker trailed close behind in 52nd place in a time of 28:20. Cade Curphy stepped up big for the Warriors, finishing 4th for the team with a 28:56 performance. Ben Oliver rounded out the top-five in 81st place in 29:27.
IHCC ended up in 8th place out of 16 teams and beat Butler, which was rated 19th in the latest national poll.
IHCC head coach Brent Ewing said, "The men put themselves in a position to run fast today by getting out relatively hard the first 5,000 meters of the race. I was happy to see them attack the course like they did. For the freshmen, this was their first 8K race ever. There's a big learning curve with that distance but I thought they handled it very well. Freshmen Ethan Mesenbrink and Cade Curphy really stepped up and took the race head-on. Conner Riley continued to demonstrate his fitness. He's going to be ready to run fast in late October. Zach Schocker is in a better spot at this time of year than he was last year as well. Ben Oliver is showing he's ready to be a top-five runner for us while Seth Kilborn continues to come back from some injuries."
Next up for the Warriors is the Brissman/Lundeen Invitational in Rock Island, Ill., on Oct. 4.
Southern Stampede
Indian Hills results:
Conner Riley - 27:14 (21st)
Ethan Mesenbrink - 28:03 (47th)
Zach Schocker - 28:20 (52nd)
Cade Curphy - 28:56 (65th)
Ben Oliver - 29:27 (81st)
Seth Kilborn - 29:41 (87th)
Jacob Glandon - 31:21 (119th)
Marc Estrada - 32:11 (130th)