BETTENDORF, Iowa – Placing its front five runners among the Top 15 overall, the University of St. Francis men's cross country team edged out Olivet Nazarene University for its sixth straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference title and 10th in the past 11 years on Saturday morning at Crow Creek Park.

Olivet Nazarene actually led 25-26 after the first 12 runners crossed the finish line, but Miguel Garcia sealed the victory for the Saints by gaining the fifth scoring spot at No. 13 - just four seconds ahead of ONU's No. 5 runner, who placed 15th.  That enabled St. Francis to finish with 39 points to ONU's 40.  Saint Xavier University was a distant third with 74 points.  A total of eight teams and 99 runners competed in the event.

After Saint Xavier's Isaac Sytsma placed first overall to earn CCAC Runner of the Year honors for the second year in a row with his top time of 24:45.8, USF answered with two of the next four spots, topped by Michael Reif's 25:06.3 runner-up finish.  Mikey Corcoran then crossed the finish line for USF in 25:19.4 to place fifth overall.

Scott Crabb was USF's third man, placing seventh (25:26.6), while Jack Wright checked in at 25:54.4 to grab the 12th overall position.  Garcia rounded out USF's top five with his time of 26:00.

Each of those five individuals earned all-conference honors for the Saints by placing in the Top 15.  Second-year USF head coach Trevor Howard was also named the CCAC Coach of the Year for his team's performance.  The honor is Howard's third of his career and second on the men's side.

Up Next
By earning the CCAC title, the USF men's cross country team receives the league's automatic bid to compete at the NAIA National Championships in Columbia, Mo. on Friday, Nov. 22.

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