Trojans Post 10 PRs in Terrific Showing in Blazing Tiger Classic

OMAHA, Neb. – The Taylor men's cross country team had a terrific race on Saturday, finishing fourth among eight squads that were ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 Poll at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic. 

The Trojans (63-24) put up a season-best time of 2:05.25, three minutes better than their time at the IWU Twilight Invite. The time is the fourth best in program history and shows the potential of the Trojans this season and beyond. 

TU finished ahead of five teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the most recent NAIA Top-25 poll, including No. 8 Oklahoma City, No. 15 Southern Oregon, No. 22 Kansas Wesleyan, No. 25 Doane, and RV William Penn. All three teams ahead of the Trojans were ranked in the top ten. 

Nathan Burns paced the Trojans once again with his personal best time of 24:36.1 for a 5th-place finish, which also gives him the 6th-fastest time in program history. Ryan Hanak was the next Trojan to cross the finish line in 12th place. Hanak posted the 11th-fastest time in program history at 24:50.6, which was almost a minute better than his previous best time at Taylor. 

Luke Harber posted a personal best as well with a time of 25:17.6 to finish in 27th. Rounding out the top five were Ben Eiffert and Zach McKowen, with times of 25:19.2 and 25:27.0, both of which were also personal bests. Joel Mumaw, Alex Ortiz, Keenan Clegg, Zach McWatters, and Jack Hammond were part of ten Trojans who set new personal bests on Saturday. 

The Trojans will compete next in the Crossroads League Championships back in Upland, Indiana, against a field of teams that includes six teams ranked or receiving votes. The men's race is set to begin at 11:30 am on Friday, November 3.