Rio's Jenkins wins All-Ohio, Ward tops RedStorm in Forgey Invite

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Tyler Jenkins' sprint to the finish victory helped the University of Rio Grande men to a sixth-place finish in the All-Ohio Cross Country Championship, while another RedStorm contingent posted a runner-up showing in their own Patty Forgey Invitational.
     Both races took place Friday evening, with the All-Ohio being hosted by Cedarville University.
     Jenkins, a senior from Barnesville, Ohio, topped the field of 383 runners in the 8k event by outlasting Mount Vernon Nazarene's Will Baker in a down-the-stretch race to the finish line.
     Jenkins crossed in a time of 24:37.8 - just one-tenth of a second quicker than Baker.
     Sophomore Ryder Crawford (Batavia, OH) added a 10th place finish for Rio Grande in a time of 25:08, helping the RedStorm to a sixth-place showing among a field of 20 schools which included all three divisions of the NCAA and the NAIA.
     Host Cedarville University won the team title with 65 points, while Ashland University was second with 75 points and Malone University took third place with 115 points.
Rio Grande actually tied John Carroll for fifth place with 158 points, but finished sixth after losing a tiebreaker.
     Also representing Rio Grande in the event was senior Mugisha Pomossene (Dayton, OH), who was 47th in a time of 25:51; junior Kasy Science (Marietta, OH), who placed 56th with a mark of 26:02; junior Ashton Beverly (Chillicothe, OH), who finished 62nd in a time of 26:09; sophomore Anton Meinlschmidt (Weibeyoke, Germany), who took 73rd place after crossing in 26:25; senior Carter Lipscomb (West Union, WV), who was 76th in a time of 26:28; sophomore John Young (Leroy, OH), who was 79th in 26:30; freshman Moritz Siegel (Leipzig, Germany), who finished 123rd in a time of 27:03; and freshman Micah Balsmeyer (Walbridge, OH), who took 143rd place with a mark of 27:21.
     Meanwhile, back home against a pair of River States Conference foes, the RedStorm's second crew of runners finished behind Indiana University Kokomo and ahead of West Virginia University Tech in the annual Patty Forgey Invitational, which is named in honor of the late former URG athletic department secretary.
     IUK had three of the top four finishers and tallied 24 points, while Rio had 37 points and the Golden Bears totaled 77 points.
     IUK's Jeremiah Myles had the top time in the 8k race, which included 43 runners, by crossing in 27:03.
     Rio Grande's top time came from freshman Nathan Ward (Galena, OH), who was third overall after crossing in 27:24.
     The RedStorm also had three other runners - freshman Josh Alexander (Fredericktown, OH), junior Zach Whitley (Wheelersburg, OH) and sophomore Jacob Faught (Georgetown, OH) - finish in the top 10. Alexander was fifth in 27:35, Whitley was sixth with a time of 27:36 and Faught was 10th in 28:12.
     Others representing Rio Grande in the event included freshman AbDoul Bah (Columbus, OH), who was 13th with a time of 28:18; junior JJ Larue (Chillicothe, OH), who placed 15th after crossing in 28:31; sophomore David van Kuik (Utrecht, The Netherlands), who was 17th with a mark of 28:37; freshman Gage Renison (Chillicothe, OH), who finished 19th in a time of 29:00; freshman Jaxson Immell (Chillicothe, OH), who was 21st in 29:10; freshman Ian Kohls (Bremerhaven, Germany), who placed 25th in a time of 29:29; freshman Brody King (Sunbury, OH), who finished 26th with a mark of 29:32; sophomore Caleb Hines (Chillicothe, OH), whose time of 29:51 was good enough for 28th place; freshman A'Ziah Jenkins (Pickerington, OH), who was 29th in a time of 29:55; freshman Victor Koech (Kenya), who placed 34th in 30:50; freshman Angel Montes (Mexico), who finished 35th in 31:06; Tyler Hill, who was 36th in 31:20; junior Jayden Dunlap (Gallipolis, OH), who took 37th place in a time of 31:26; Joey Morris, who was 40th in a time of 32:48; and sophomore Wyatt Webb (Gallipolis, OH), was grabbed 42nd place after crossing in 35:17.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Friday, Oct. 3 at Lehigh University's Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa.