Complete Results

ALFRED, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's cross country team was forced to run on a muddy course on a chilly Saturday at Alfred University's Jericho Hill Fields, the site of the 2018 Empire 8 Championships. The Soaring Eagles endured the subpar conditions to finish in eighth place with 219 points.

Utica College was crowned the 2018 E8 champion, after placing three in the top 10 and all five scoring runners inside the top 13. The Pioneers earned 43 points, followed by St. John Fisher College (70) and Stevens Institute of Technology (73) to round out the top three in the standings.

Six Soaring Eagles hit the trails at the conference's championship event, led by first-year runner Owen Rose '22. As he's done all season long, Rose paced the Soaring Eagles with a time of 33:07.65 in the eight-kilometer race, which placed the rookie in 41st out of 81 participants.

Senior Jeremy Best '19 finished the 6K race in 35:19.34 and crossed the finish line in 55th place. Fellow fourth-year runners Jarritt Himmelreich '19, Jonathan Muller '18, and Justin Gillule '19 were separated by just five places, with Himmelreich (38:23.69) coming in 72nd, Muller in 75th (39:20.15) and Gillule (40:45.24) in 77th.

In his first season with the EC men's cross country team, Matt Straney '20 was clocked at 48:49.07 in the 8K for an 81-place finish in his first-ever Empire 8 Championship competition.

Elmira Men's Results
41 - Owen Rose - 33:07.65
55 - Jeremy Best - 35:19.34
72 - Jarritt Himmelreich - 38:23.69
75 - Jonathan Muller - 39:20.15
77 - Justin Gillule - 40:45.24
81 - Matt Straney - 48:49.07

Team Results

1. Utica - 43
2. St. John Fisher - 70
3. Stevens - 73
4. Houghton - 78
5. Nazareth - 91
6. Hartwick - 210
7. Alfred – 210
8. Elmira – 219

News and Notes

• Elmira competed in the Empire 8 Conference championships in each of the past four seasons.
• Times as Alfred's Jericho Hill Fields were affected by wet and sloppy conditions.
• Rose was the first Soaring Eagle to the finish line in 41st place with a time of 33:07.65.
• The E8 Championships are the second of three championship races to end the season for the Purple and Gold, including the Cross Country Only Conference (CCOC) Championships and the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional on November 10.

Up Next
On Saturday, November 10, the EC men's cross country team will run in the 2018 NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship, hosted by Rowan University at the Gloucester Dream Park in Logan Township, New Jersey.