Hall Leads Trojans to Second-Place at Crossroads Championships
MARION, Ind. – The Taylor University men's cross country team finished second at the Crossroads League Championships for the third time in four years, behind Matt Hall's second-place overall finish and third-straight All-Crossroads League effort.
The No. 23 Trojans (81-15) raced their third-fastest time of the season, finishing at 130:05 and with 78 points to take second behind No. 4 Marian's 48 points and time of 128:37. TU edged No. 14 Bethel in the team standings, topping the Pilots by 15 points.
Taylor saw 12 of its 16 individuals register their fastest times of the season, with Benjamin Byrd, Hunter Smith, Jonathan Taylor, Jordan Florian, Reid Otto, Kyle Shelton and Garrett Henderson all recording their best collegiate marks as well.
Hall led the way, crossing the tape at 25:06.9 for the second-fastest time of the day, behind Goshen's Ryan Smith in the individual standings. Hall's finish was his sixth top-five showing in as many races this season and extended the senior All-American's streak to 17-straight races as TU's top finisher.
Byrd followed Hall in the top-15 to claim All-Crossroad League honors as well, turning in a personal-best mark of 26:02.7 for his highest overall and team finish with the Trojans.
Taylor placed five runners inside the top-23, with Smith crossing in 18th at 26:11.8, Taylor following in 21st at 26:20.3 and Dye taking 23rd at 26:23.1. Stephen Cho (33rd), Aaron Scott (38th) and Wes Noyes (49th) gave TU a total of eight inside the top-50 out of the 124 competitors.
Taylor will now wait to see if it earns an at-large bid to race as a team at the NAIA National Championships in Elsah, Illinois on November 19. The at-large bids will be announced on Monday, November 7.
