Crusaders Finish Fifth at Horizon League Championship; Honig, Schultz Earn All-League Accolades
Saturday, October 27, 2007

Results

Led by Chris Honig (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South [Indiana]) and Leandro Schultz (Valley View, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights), the Valparaiso men’s cross country team finished fifth at the 2007 Horizon League Championship meet Saturday afternoon at Sunset Hills Farm Park in Valparaiso, Ind.

The Crusaders tallied 112 points, just one point behind fourth-place Detroit.  Butler took the team title with 15 points, sweeping the top five spots, while Loyola registered 100 points to edge out Youngstown State by one point for second place.  Andy Baker of the Bulldogs was the individual champion.

“It was an incredibly tight race today in the middle of the pack, just like we thought it would be coming into the day,” said Crusader head coach Mike Straubel.  “We ran our guts out and left everything on the course, but just lost a few more individual battles along the way than we won, keeping us from finishing higher.”

Honig paced the Crusaders with an eighth-place finish to earn Second Team All-League honors, completing the 8K course in 26:31.6, just seven seconds behind the sixth-place finisher.  Schultz came home in 14th place, crossing the line in 26:44.1 to also receive Second Team All-League accolades.

“It was nice to see both Chris and Leandro repeat on the second team (both runners earned Second Team All Mid-Con honors in 2006),” said Straubel.  “Chris had a good shot at making it on the First Team, but just came up a little bit short on the kick at the end.”

Jim Turchyn (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) was the third-fastest Crusader on the day, placing 26th with a time of 27:24.8.  Rich Krupar (Elyria, Ohio/Midview) followed Turchyn just two places back in 28th position, completing the course in 27:26.4, while Joel Hartenberger (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia) closed out Valpo’s top-five runners with a 36th-place finish, crossing the line in 27:42.3.

Valparaiso returns to action in two weeks on Saturday, November 10 as the Crusaders travel to Bloomington, Ind. to take part in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.  The 10K race will begin at 10 a.m. CST.