The #21 men's cross country team progressed through the tail end of their season today at the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships. The race was back and forth, and after 8 kilometers of racing the Saints were edged out by 1 point for the conference championship.
 
Winning the conference title was cross town rival, #18 Cornerstone, with 32 points. AQ placed second with 33 points. They did so finishing 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th, and 10th. Lawrence Tech (94 points), Indiana Tech (104 points), and Michigan-Dearborn, (157 points) round out the top five.
 
Andrew Ireland and Matthew Schieber completed the 8k race together finishing only .8 seconds apart from one another. Ireland placed third overall with a time of 26:01 with Schieber right behind him at 26:01.8.
 
Next across the line for AQ was senior, Caleb Hodgkinson. Hodgkinson was the seventh athlete to finish the race and did so with a time of 26:13. He was followed up by Ben Hardy and Connor Clemens. Hardy finished ninth with a time of 26:20 with Clemens right behind him in 10th with a time of 26:21. Then, Connor Callahan was close behind the duo. Callahan averaged a 5:20 mile to run a time of 26:28 placing 12th. Juan David Hernandez rounded out the top seven when he finished 17th with a time of 26:52.
 
Below are the conference honors awarded at the todays meet.
 
Men's First Team All-Conference (Runners who finish in places 1-7)
Andrew Ireland
Matthew Schieber
Caleb Hodgkinson
 
Men's Second Team All-Conference (Runners who finish in places 8-14)
Ben Hardy
Connor Clemens
Connor Callahan
 
Men's Champion of Character (One nominee from each team who represents the five core character values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership)
Matthew Brines
 
Men's All-Academic Team (Junior or above in academic standing with minimum 3.25 GPA on 4.0 scale and in attendance at nominating school for one full year)
Andrew Ireland
Ben Hardy
Ben Hylen
Ben Peterson
Caleb Hodgkinson
Connor Callahan
Connor Clemens
Edward Frey
Jonah Maichele
Matthew Brines
Matthew Schieber
Will Finch
 
This was the final race of the year for the entire men's squad. On November 18, the Saints will take 8 runners to Tallahassee, Florida for the 67th Annual Cross Country National Championship.