FINAL RESULTS

TWINSBURG, Ohio – On a day where the results ended up being closer than some may have thought, it was still the nationally-ranked Otterbein men's cross country team that dug deep to narrowly emerge with its second-straight Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) trophy.

The Cardinals, entering the weekend ranked No. 14 in the latest USTFCCCA national poll, posted a group total of 41 points to barely edge out runner-up John Carroll and its 44 output. The Blue Streaks served as meet host for the event, taking place at Liberty Park in nearby Twinsburg.

Senior Chase Hampton, already with two victories on the year, made it a trifecta by galloping his way to the OAC individual title in a time of 25:29 on the 8K course. He found the sweet land of redemption after settling for second place last year behind Ohio Northern standout Ian McVey, this time besting the entire field of 149 competitors.

"Defending a title is always a war and harder than winning the first," said Hampton, who crossed six seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Phillip of JCU. "This was a tough course and closer than we would have liked, but guys stepped up in big moments to bring another trophy in. I am glad we were able to win another one for the people that built this program from the ground up."

Senior classmate Max Hoffman helped gather big points as well with a third-place finish himself, cruising down the stretch in 25:49 to hold off the fourth-place finisher by six seconds. John Carroll kept things interesting with four of its runners crossing in the top-10, but a deep Otterbein squad made sure to stay right on their heels and grab necessary scoring as well.

Seven Cardinals finished between spots 11 and 22 to benefit the cause, led in that window by Alex Clevinger (26:14) in 11th place and then Jamey Ehret (26:18) right behind in the next spot. Ryan Estes (26:21) and Spencer Strohm (26:31) also landed within the top-18 cutoff, which signifies All-OAC status.

Hampton, Hoffman, Clevinger, and Ehret all graduate as multiple-time all-league performers.

Ryan Bosworth, Jacob Thompson and Jason Mehalic all finished in the 26-minute range as well and just missed the all-conference breaking point. The OAC trophy marks the second in as many years for Otterbein, which broke through last fall for its first crown in almost 15 years.

The Cardinals will now look to run this momentum into NCAA Great Lakes Regionals, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 16 up in Grand Rapids, Mich. Otterbein was the runner-up at least year's regional meet.