The wintry winds of Winona Lake may have slowed the Maple Leaf cross country team at the Crossroads League meet. But for at least one Leaf, the end of fall will persist for two more weeks. Despite finishing in his slowest time of the year, covering the eight kilometer (4.97 mile) course in 26:12, Ryan Smith, a first-year, qualified for the NAIA national championship. That race will be held Nov. 23 in Lawrence, Kan. While Smith was the Leafs’ only national qualifier, Goshen saw two runners finish in the top 15 and earn all-conference honors. In addition to Smith’s second-place...

By Tony Miller • November 15, 2013 • Sports

Ryan Smith’s college cross country career is off to an auspicious start. A 33-year-old Goshen College record fell Friday night when Smith, a first-year, crossed the finish line at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational, a cross country meet in Rock Island, Illinois. Smith completed the 8,000 meter (4.97 mile) course in 25 minutes, 19 seconds, nine seconds faster than the time set by Mark Plank during his sophomore season of 1982. Smith finished fifth overall, the top NAIA finisher in a meet that attracted 34 complete teams in addition to unattached runners. Goshen finished ninth as a team, the second highest NAIA...

By Tony Miller • October 6, 2013 • Sports

Entering the Crossroads League conference meet in Marion, Ind., the Goshen College men’s cross country team’s goal was simple: win. Failing that, the goal was almost simpler: run well enough to qualify for the national meet. Neither the team nor the leading individual, Billy Funk, a senior, met the first goal — the Leafs were third, finishing behind No. 21 Indiana Wesleyan and No. 16 Spring Arbor, while Funk finished sixth in 26:01.8. Jordan Smeltzer, a sophomore, was second on the team and seventh overall after finishing the 8-kilometer (4.97-mile) course in 26:03.3. By virtue of their finishes, the two...

By Tony Miller • November 15, 2012 • Sports

If 2011 was a spark for the Goshen College Men’s Cross Country Team, then 2012 has turned into a bonfire. In 2011 Jordan Smeltzer, then a first-year, and Oscar Kirwa, then a sophomore, combined to run four of the fastest 20 times in Maple Leaf history. On Saturday, Men’s Cross Country made history again at the Benedictine Invitational in Ill. Billy Funk, a senior, was the fourth runner across the line, covering the 8,000-meter (4.97-mile) course in 25:43. Moses Kaelo, a sophomore, was sixth in 25:51. Smeltzer, despite being only 22 seconds off his best collegiate time, fell all the...

By Tony Miller • October 11, 2012 • Sports

  The starting gun has fired on the Maple Leafs’ cross country seasons. The men have yet to lose a race to a degree-granting institution, falling only to an unofficial alumni team in the Goshen Hokum Karem on Sept. 1. The women have placed in the top three in each meet they have attended. In fact, Goshen’s success is being realized: the men have been third in the Crossroads League in all three polls released this year and received votes in each NAIA national ranking. But for a program with 23 all-conference selections in the last dozen years, a couple...

By Tony Miller • September 20, 2012 • Sports

On Nov. 19, sophomore Oscar Joses Kirwa and first-year Jordan Smeltzer traveled to Vancouver, Wash. to compete in their first career national championship race. Kirwa and Smeltzer advanced to nationals after they placed sixth and seventh, respectively, at the conference championship on Nov. 5. In Vancouver, the men were up against 300 of the nation’s best competitors. Kirwa crossed the finish line in 25:49 to place 108th, and Smeltzer finished with a time of 26:01 in 131st place. The winning team was Oklahoma Christian University, with 93 points. Sophomore Kennedy Kithuka of Wayland Baptist University was the first to cross...

By Kaeli Evans • November 30, 2011 • Sports

Goshen College hosted the regional cross-country competition at Shanklin Park on Saturday, where the men trailed only four points behind first-place finisher, Huntington, which meant losing their automatic entry to the national championships. Until Monday, the men’s cross-country season appeared to be over, but due to their high performance, two members of the men’s team will travel to Vancouver, Wash. to continue their 2011 season. First-year Jordan Smeltzer and sophomore Oscar Joses Kirwa will represent Goshen College on Nov. 19 at the Fort Vancouver Historic Site. Kirwa placed sixth in the regional match with a time of 25:30.9 and Smeltzer followed...

By Kaeli Evans • November 9, 2011 • Sports

  Goshen’s men and women’s cross-country teams avoided the typical early season heat, but not the strong winds as they participated in the annual Hokum Karem. Runners were buffeted to fairly slow times across the board. Both teams ended up finishing third out of the four teams in attendance. Huntington University and Trine University took first and second in both races. The Hokum Karem differs from the standard collegiate race format. In the event, runners from teams compete in pairs, alternating miles. The scores are determined by the general placement of the first three pairs from each team to finish....

By Dietrich Eitzen • September 9, 2010 • Sports

Nine runners place top 10, Bouwman takes individual title at Defiance Invitational The Goshen College Men and Women’s cross-country team traveled to Defiance, Ohio for the season opener this past weekend. When the event ended, the women’s team had five runners in the top 10 overall as they took the team title. The five runners included freshman Karla Folker (2nd), senior Rachel Baker (4th 21:03), freshman Mara Weaver (6th 21:13), senior Michelle Miller (8th 21:30), and freshman Alita Yoder (9th 21:32). The men’s team had four runners in the top 10 overall and finished second as a team. Senior Ben Bowman led the...

By John Tamrat • September 16, 2009 • Sports Sara Alvarez • September 16, 2009 • Sports

For Samuel Chege, running has been more than a sport. It has been a way of life. Growing up on his family’s farm in the countryside of Kenya, Chege’s feet were his means of transportation as he hunted, farmed, commuted to town and ran to school. “Running was not something to gain interest in since I had to run to get to where I needed to go,” said Chege, a senior. Using what he had been doing throughout his childhood, Chege began his running career competing barefoot in Kenya’s interscholastic championships. According to Chege, it is normal to run without...

By Brandon Long • March 18, 2009 • Sports