Final Results (PDF)
2017 Great Midwest All-Conference Team (PDF)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A razor-thin margin separated Walsh from Malone as the Cavaliers steered their way to a Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship trophy on Saturday morning.
Walsh bested the 12-team field at the league’s sixth annual event hosted by Trevecca, held at Vaughn’s Gap Course at Percy Warner Park. Temperatures were unseasonably warm for some of the respective areas each institution would call home, but with little wind, conditions were near perfect for spectating during competitive 8K and 6K races.
The conference was running its first championship of the 2017-18 academic year with all five new first-year institutions, including Hillsdale, Findlay, Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican and Walsh, in attendance.
It wasn’t easy as Walsh won by just one point in the final team scoring against noted rival Malone. The Cavaliers had 35 points to the Pioneers 36 points and only 0.12 of a second separated each team’s final cumulative times.
The team win by Walsh snapped a five-year streak by Cedarville, which placed third followed by Hillsdale and Findlay to round out the top five.
As voted by his peers, Great Midwest Coach of the Year Rob Mizicko from Walsh watched intently down the stretch as Jacob Kernell made a valiant bid for the individual title. Kernell clocked an 8K time of 25:13.80 to finish runner-up in his first Great Midwest Championship meet.
He was backed with a nice 5-6 finish from Cavaliers’ combo Steven Kapes and Spencer Wirick, both juniors. Rookie Noah Murray narrowly missed out on being the league’s best first-year runner in the meet and senior Justin Maroni would earned second-team all-conference honors in 13th.
A collective team effort pushed Walsh to the top with an average time of 25:40 in their top-five performers -- even if it was a little too close for comfort.
“The guys came in ready to roll,” Mizicko said. “We knew it was pretty much a dual meet with us and Malone. We knew Cedarville would have a few guys in there and Hillsdale would as well. At the halfway point, it was like, ‘wow, this is close.’”
“It’s a credit to our kids and Malone’s kids out there,” he added. “It was a dogfight out there and they ran well.”
A total of 14 individuals were recognized for all-conference status at the awards ceremony, including seven on the first team and seven on the second team.
For Malone, back-to-back years of being runner-up in the conference meet had several notable highlights, including an 18-second PR from first-team all-conference performer Zach Fresenko, who also hauled in Great Midwest Freshman of the Year honors.
2016 Great Midwest Runner of the Year George McCartney did his part at the front of the pack while senior Nate Boyer paced Malone as the top finisher in third with a time of 25:27.80. Brett Cortelletti also was in the top 10 and freshman Noah Chaplik came in 12th.
Cedarville’s Daniel Michalski came into the meet as the presumed favorite based on his track record from a strong senior season.
Knowing he had a target on his back, Michalski persevered to add yet another accomplishment to a considerable list that included a national outdoor track title in the 3K steeplechase.
Michalski was feeling a second wind in the as the first 4K of the 8K race was completed, setting up a showdown of wits against Kernell at the midway point.
After the 5K mark, Michalski was able to gain minor separation and going into the fourth mile, he was able to buy a few more steps on a downhill slope as he anticipated a move that didn’t quite come from his counterpart.
“I wanted to establish myself with the lead group and go on with how that felt to not get ahead of myself,” Michalski said. “I have confidence in the latter half of my race to pull away if I have to and that’s essentially what happened today.”
The men now shift their focus from the 8K to the 10K distance as they compete against the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at Cedarville on Saturday, Nov. 4.