Goshen College men’s cross country concluded their season on Friday, Nov. 21 at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Maple Leafs finished 18th out of 37 teams, beating three teams ranked higher than them in the nation.

Duncan Kogei, a sophomore, and Mathew Keitany, a senior, who both hail from Kenya, received All-American honors. Kogei finished in 15th place and Keitany finished in 39th.

Rustin Nyce, director of cross country, is pleased with the team’s progress this year. “The men weren’t there at the national meet last year and so this group made it their goal to make it back,” he said.

The Leafs arrived in Florida five days before the race. Keitany claims that this early arrival helped the team get into a championship mindset. “This is a different race in a different place. Like, you’re in a national championship.”

The race took place at the Apalachee National Park, a course that Nyce described as awesome.He said, “It’s pretty cool. It starts with a pretty wide open start line and is straight for almost a [kilometer]. It’s in Florida, so the grass wasn’t really green grass, but there was grass.”

Kogei usually runs wearing a watch in order to track his pace and distance covered.

For this race however, he did not run with it. “I was kind of confused by what mile I was at, but at last, it turned out pretty well,” he said.

The Leafs got out well with Kogei leading after one kilometer. Kogei also used this strategy at the Crossroads League conference meet at Indiana Wesleyan University.

He said, “I always try to challenge my fellow athletes, to see their mentality. They might drop.” He also acknowledged that this strategy comes with risk. “When you lead the pack, some athletes may use you to set their pace.”

Despite the strength early, Nyce said, “at five [kilometers], we kind of stagnated and stayed where we were at.”

Keitany had a slower start to the race than Kogei. “I started from behind, there were a lot of people around, so starting from behind and having to catch up is a little [more] difficult than just being with the pack at the front and running your race,” he said.

The Leafs had seven runners in the race, with the top five contributing to the team score.

Drew Hogan finished in 118th, Jacob Friesen finished in 176th and Jesse Bontrager placed 232nd. Isaiah Beiter came in 287th, 10 places ahead of Samuel Klopfenstein. The team finished with 464 points.

Despite the fact that the team placed in the top half of the rankings, Nyce acknowledged that there was some disappointment surrounding the result.

“We have high expectations and we have the work ethic that matches it,” he said. “When you’re a competitor, there’s always things that you wanted to do better, but this is a really great group of guys to get to work with.”

Nyce believes that his own experience at the meet can also help him improve as a coach. “Depression lives in the past, anxiety lives in the future, but if you’re present, you’re not depressed or anxious. You’re just doing your best in the present. So I don’t want to focus on what I did wrong or where I can improve, I want to learn those lessons and implement them right now.”

Becoming an All-American means a lot to Keitany and Kogei. “It’s an indication of physical toughness, mental toughness and the way you can walk and handle pressure,” said Keitany.

Kogei said that “being an All-American is not easy, but through the hard work I’ve been putting in since the start of the season, it worked out.”

“I’m happy for them, I’m proud of them and what they have achieved. I think with those guys being able to earn All-American honors, it just reinforces that our programs are capable of competing at the highest level,” Nyce said.

“If you come to Goshen, you can expect to compete at the national meet and you can accomplish things while you’re there.”

With Keitany graduating this year, he says that he wants to “encourage the upcoming athletes that [becoming an All-American] is possible. I think with the right mindset, we can push Goshen athletics, especially cross country.”