FINAL RESULTS

NEW CONCORD, Ohio – To say it was domination for the nationally-ranked Men's Cross Country team Thursday afternoon could be argued as an understatement. The Cardinals, slotted T-13 in the UTSFCCCA preseason poll, began their schedule with a bit of "perfection" at the Muskingum Opener at Moorehead Farm.

A deep Otterbein team secured a perfect result on the day, taking the top-nine spots individually on the leaderboard and scoring the top seven in order. Overall, 61 runners laced up in the 5,000-meter race.

The Cardinals (15 points) finished well ahead of fellow Ohio Athletic Conference schools Mount Union, Muskingum, Capital and Marietta respectively.

All-American Cal Yackin bested the field comfortably, posting a smooth 15:40 to cross almost 20 seconds ahead of teammate John Nice (15:59.9). Fifth-year veterans Bill Daily and Gage Beireis were in the low 16-minute range while Nathan Craft (admirably carrying a heavy case of waters onto the team bus earlier in the day) rounded out the top five.

But Otterbein wasn't done there. Freshman Jay Figgins (16:31) turned in a nice debut along with cohorts Liam Walits, Cameron Christopher and newcomer Ian Clevinger all in the top 10. Payne Ratliff, also running his first collegiate race, wasn't too far behind.

The Cards will now have two weeks off to keep preparing for the All-Ohio Championships, set for a rare Friday evening (September 16) at the customary Cedarville University.