FINAL RESULTS

HOLLAND, Mich. – The Otterbein men's cross country team rested with a fourth-place finish (out of 38 official teams) in the Great Lakes Regionals at Three Fires Golf Course early Saturday afternoon, holding nice positions during the middle of the race but falling back just a bit down the stretch.

The Cardinals, lacing up in 38-degree weather that saw snow flurries, charted 115 points to land eight behind fellow OAC school Mount Union in third. John Carroll (48) won the event and Case Western Reserve (65) took runner-up status.

Otterbein will now wait to see if it receives an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Championships, with that national field announced Sunday evening.

Five Cardinals landed All-Region honors as a result of placing inside the Top 35, with a total of 271 individuals competing in the event.

The veteran trio of Cal Yackin (24:43), Bill Daily (24:45) and Nathan Craft (24:46) came down the final straightaway together… finishing 16th, 17th and 18th respectively in successive motion.

Fifth-year journeyman Gage Beireis worked for 29th place overall, grinding his way to a 24:59.5 to hold off a Wooster runner directly on his shoulder.

John Nice slipped in for a medal of his own in 35th place, battling over the closing steps to post 25:04 and finish roughly three seconds ahead of the cutoff.

Newcomer Jay Figgins, competing in his first regional, just missed the All-Region list despite an admirable 39th-place effort. Liam Walits (25:28) capped the scoring lineup in 65th.

John Carroll's Alex Philip, the reigning national champion, beat the field by a comfortable 26 seconds. Simon Heys (Wilmington) took runner-up honors.