Oakland, Youngstown State Crowned #HLXC Champions

Men's and Women's Results

The Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s team claimed back-to-back Horizon League Cross Country Championship titles with an impressive first-place finish accumulating 28 points in the first race at the Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Youngstown State men took back their place at the top of the podium grabbing the second title of the day with a team score of 48 points.

Oakland sophomore Rachel Levy took the women’s individual crown and Athlete of the Year accolades as she crossed the finish line in a time 21:35 with teammate Miranda Haas taking the runner-up position with a time of 21:54. The Golden Grizzlies dominated the top of the pack throughout the race tabbing four top-ten finishers with Alana Koepf placing fourth and Ashley Burr taking sixth.

The men’s race was neck-and-neck throughout the 8K race between Oakland’s Bryce Stroede and Detroit Mercy’s Ben Kendell. Stroede pulled away the final half mile and hit the tape with a winning time of 25:01 en route to earning Athlete of the Year. Kendell was only a few seconds behind at 25:08 marking his second year in-a-row taking the runner-up spot.

Youngstown State was led by junior Ryan Sullivan’s third-place finish (25:14) and fellow All-League honoree Ethan Wilson in the eighth spot (25:57). The Penguins’ Tristan Dahmen earned Freshman of the Year accolades and was the top freshman performer while finishing twelfth (26:21).

Wright State took home the team runner-up award with 88 points and was led by Second Team All-League recipients Aurora Turner in thirteenth place (22:39) and Alexandra Brown in fourteenth place (22:58). The Raiders’ coach, Rick Williamson, also brought home Co-Coach of the Year honors in which he shared with Oakland’s Paul Rice.

UIC was the men’s runner-up in the championship and had two student-athletes make All-League teams. Junior Alex Bashqawi placed fifth (25:49) to make the First Team while senior Kyle Hauser was tenth (26:04) and named to the Second Team.

Milwaukee took home the third spot for the women with 105 points as freshman Mikayla Fox was honored as the Freshman of the Year. Youngstown State was close behind in fourth with 115 with McKinsie Klim leading the pack with a third-place finish (22:03).

Northern Kentucky placed third in the men’s team standings with 116 points with Andrew Schille leading the way crossing the line in the fourth spot (25:33). Milwaukee was one point behind in fourth as senior Caleb Abfall grabbed ninth with a time of 26:00.

The Horizon League cross country teams will compete at either the Great Lakes Region Meet in Madison, Wis. or the Midwest Region Meet in Iowa City, IA on Friday, November 11th. The Great Lakes Region will run on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course while the Midwest Region will race on the Ashton Cross Country Course. The NCAA Championships are set to take place Saturday, November 19th in Terre Haute, Ind.

Men’s Awards
Freshman of the Year: Tristan Dahmen, Youngstown State
Athlete of the Year: Bryce Stroede, Oakland
Coach of the Year: Brian Gorby, Youngstown State

First Team All-League
1. Bryce Stoede, Oakland
2. Ben Kendell, Detroit Mercy
3. Ryan Sullivan, Youngstown State
4. Andrew Schille, Northern Kentucky
5. Alex Bashqawi, UIC
6. Connor Wuori, Oakland
7. Mitchell Bilitz, Green Bay

Second Team All-League
8. Ethan Wilson, Youngstown State
9. Caleb Abfall, Milwaukee
10. Kyle Hauser, UIC
11. Alan Burns, Youngstown State
12. Tristan Dahmen, Youngstown State
13. Nathan Dunn, Wright State
14. Dylan Dombi, Youngstown State

Women’s Awards
Freshman of the Year: Mikayla Fox, Milwaukee
Athlete of the Year: Rachel Levy, Oakland
Co-Coaches of the Year: Paul Rice, Oakland & Rick Williamson, Wright State

First Team All-League
1. Rachel Levy, Oakland
2. Miranda Haas, Oakland
3. McKinsie Klim, Youngstown State
4. Alana Koepf, Oakland
5. Karen Barrientos, Cleveland State
6. Ashley Burr, Oakland
7. Devon Sutton, Detroit Mercy

Second Team All-League
8. Mikayla Fox, Milwaukee
9. Lizzie Deutsch, UIC
10. Allison Hansen, UIC
11. Hannah Tobler, Northern Kentucky
12. Allison Anich, Milwaukee
13. Aurora Turner, Wright State
14. Alexandra Brown, Wright State