MARION, Ind. - Drew Hogan placed first of 304 runners and the men's team came in fifth of 20 as the Goshen cross country teams competed in their first meet of the season at the IWU Twilight Classic. The women had four runners, which wasn't enough to have a team score.

Men - 5th of 20
On what is considered to be one of the fastest courses in the state of Indiana, Hogan finished in a time of 24:25.7, almost five seconds faster than the second place runner - Tyler Jenkins of Rio Grande. He had an average pace of 4:58.4 per mile. Hogan's time is the second-fastest in program history, only behind Mathew Keitany's 24:21.5 time last season. Keitany and Duncan Kogei came in 21st and 23rd places, respectively, with times of 25:20.0 and 25:20.5. Jacob Friesen was Goshen's fourth runner, coming in at 26:01.6 and in 58th place, while Jesse Bontrager was the fifth runner, finishing in 112th and a time of 26:51.4.

The Leafs, currently ranked #21 in the NAIA coaches poll, finished behind #8 Indiana Wesleyan, #3 Taylor, #5 Marian and #13 Indiana-East. They finished ahead of (RV) Cornerstone, #24 Shawnee State, #25 Rio Grande and (RV) Indiana Tech. The last time the men ran at the IWU Twilight Classic, they finished eighth of 18 teams in 2022.

Women - No Team Score
The women were one runner short of having the five runners required to have a team score. Individually, Kassy Ortega was the top Goshen finisher, coming in 40th place out of 203 with a time of 24:04.0. Ortega is a freshman from Goshen who competed at Goshen High School. Freshman Presley Allen was next for the Maple Leafs, finishing in 65th and a time of 24:33.6. Caroline Jelimo was in 100th place and came in at 25:28.2. Ella Armstrong came in 128th place with a time of 26:13.2.

Taylor won on the women's side, followed by Indiana Wesleyan, Marian and Grace.

Next Friday, September 12, the Leafs compete at the Auto Owners Spartan Invite hosted by Michigan State University. The men run at 9:00 am and the women follow at 9:40 am.