The Valparaiso men’s cross country team ran to an eighth-place finish Saturday morning at the 2011 Horizon League Championships, contested in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Crusaders tallied 223 total points on Saturday morning to finish in eighth place, finishing ahead of Green Bay.  Butler took home the team title, while the Bulldogs’ Callum Hawkins captured individual first-place accolades.

Senior Nick Fagan (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) paced the Crusaders in his final league championship meet, placing 43^rd with a time of 28:52.2 over the 8K course.  Junior Wally Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) wasn’t far behind Fagan, covering the course in 29:01.3, good for 46^th position.

Senior Jordan Piaskowy (Crete, Ill./Illiana Christian) was the third Valpo runner across the line, finishing in 49^th with a time of 29:06.0.  The Crusaders’ final two scoring runners, a pair of freshmen, finished the race back-to-back, as Eric Hickok (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) placed 52^nd with a time of 29:18.1, while Kiefer Heiman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) completed the circuit in 29:21.4, good for 53^rd place.

The Valparaiso men’s cross country team closes out action in 2011 in two weekends, as the Crusaders travel to Toledo, Ohio to run in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Sat., November 12.