STEVENSON, Md.– Eastern University Men's Cross Country finished fourth at the MAC Championship meet hosted by Stevenson University. Led by a seventh-place finish from Greg Thomas, the Eagles put five runners on the All-MAC squad.

Top Performers:
Greg Thomas (7th- 26:50) Rusty Batykefer (17th- 27:32) Bryton Henry (19th- 27:36) Kenny Deloff (21st-27:49) Steven Payne (30th- 28:09)

How It Happened:
The runners raced in terrible conditions over a rain-softened course. With the women's race coming before and a steady rain falling, there would be no records set a on what otherwise could have been a very flat and fast course. Messiah won the championship in a tight battle with 49 points. Stevenson placed second with 70; Widener third with 82; Eastern fourth with 93.

Coach Wilson Says:
"The men's race was a similar story to the women's. We feel that we have all the right pieces in place, but things just didn't go our way today. Greg Thomas ran an excellent race for us up front. He earned a 7th place finish and his second straight first-team all conference honor. Greg took the race out and kept the pace honest early, causing some early decisions and breaks in the pack. He did what he needed to do to give himself a shot, but after battling illness all week, he didn't have quite enough in the tank late. He'll be dangerous at Regionals in two weeks. He's ready."

"Rusty Batykefer, Bryton Henry and Kenny Deloff worked off each other for the bulk of the race to finish 17th, 19th and 21st overall. All three were aggressive early and risked it... it was a great effort, but we slipped off the pace a little late, and in a tight meet like this a few places for three guys means a lot. The freshmen duo of Steven Payne and Milan Sharma had excellent races today to finish 30th and 32nd overall. Doug Kramer, who is still coming back from injury, rounded out the varsity seven."

"Five guys on the all-conference list is not usually something that results in a fourth place finish, but again, we just didn't have our best day. We ran well. It's not that we ran poorly. We just didn't quite rise to the occasion of a championship race and a few other teams took advantage of that. We have to be sharper going into Regionals."

"Today wasn't what we hoped for, but our guys are ready and resilient. We're looking forward to Regionals in two weeks and a shot at rewriting the story of how our season is going to close out."

Up Next:
The Eagles will race at the NCAA Mideast Regional Meet at DeSales on Nov. 10. The top teams and individuals qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships.