2018 Men's Cross Country All-Conference Team (PDF)
Official Great Midwest Men's Cross Country Championship Page
Final Results (PDF)
CANTON, Ohio – Two nationally-ranked teams, two competitive rivals and two well-respected programs were neck-and-neck for bragging rights at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship 8K race on Saturday.
After finishing as the team runner-up in both 2016 and 2017, the Malone Pioneers were second to no one at GlenOak High School, winning the 2018 title over 12 other scored programs.
Malone was able to score 48 points with a combined time of 2:15:30.00 and it was just a mere 13 seconds and three points that separated the Pioneers from runner-up Walsh, the 2017 conference champs.
Malone dethroned its rival with three runners in the top 10, including Great Midwest Runner of the Year George McCartney. McCartney bested the field of 148 total runners with a time of 26:38.90 and now has the distinction of being the first-place finisher at the Great Midwest Championships twice.
McCartney was also the 2016 Great Midwest Runner of the Year when Malone served as the host institution and he already has scored multiple athlete of the week selections in the current season.
Cedarville finished third as a team, Hillsdale came in fourth and Davis & Elkins placed fifth in the team scoring. Three teams were nationally ranked entering the seventh conference race in league history: Cedarville (No. 17), Malone (No. 18) and Walsh (No. 20)
This year’s individual runner-up was Malone sophomore Zach Fresenko, who took his place at the awards podium in 2017 in Nashville as the Great Midwest Freshman of the Year. Also placing eighth was another sophomore from MU, Noah Chaplik.
Appropriately, Malone’s legendary hall of fame coach Jack Hazen, was named the 2018 Great Midwest Coach of the Year by his peers. Carrying the tradition of impressive first-year runners was rookie Beau Boyden from Walsh, who attended Fisher Catholic High School. He was the Great Midwest Freshman of the Year by placing 15th, barely on the outside of second team all-conference accolades.
The top seven finishers at the Great Midwest Championship were recognized as first-team all-conference performers. In addition to McCartney and Fresenko, Cedarville’s Trent Classen and Ethan Sullivan, Walsh’s Noah Murray and Jacob Kernell and Hillsdale’s Eli Poth, all stood together.
The next seven runners to cross the line were presented with second team all-conference awards. Chaplik led that group with his eighth-place finish while being joined by Findlay’s Jonathan Allen, Walsh’s Jacob Caniford and Mark Hadley, Tiffin’s Stephen Korir, Cedarville’s Alec Weinhold and Hillsdale’s Joseph Humes.
The next step in postseason qualification for Great Midwest programs will be competition in a few weeks at the NCAA Midwest Regional, which is hosted by Hillsdale College this season. Teams and individuals will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships that will be hosted by Slippery Rock on Dec. 1 in Pittsburgh, Pa., at Schenley Park.