Men’s cross country: Comets place fifth at MIAA Championships, Lutzke earns All-MIAA honors

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Olivet College men's cross country team placed fifth at the 2014 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships today at the Gainey Athletic Complex in Grand Rapids. Combined with their fifth-place finish at the Ieague jamboree earlier this fall, the Comets finish in fifth-place in the overall seasonal MIAA standings. At the conclusion of today's championship, it was announced senior Greg Lutzke earned second-team All-MIAA honors.

In today's race, Olivet totaled 143 points, which was 23 points ahead of sixth-place Albion College. Calvin College won the MIAA championship with 43 points, followed by Hope College, 60; Adrian College, 71; and Trine (Ind.) University, 131.

Lutzke placed 17th of 111 runners, as he covered the 8K course in a career-best time of 26 minutes and 19 seconds. Senior Andrew Benkovsky was next to cross the finish line for the Comets with a time of 26:47. Senior Jalen Weaver finished in 27:23, followed by sophomore Blake Wilson, 27:27; and junior Nicholas Roberge-Ferris, 27:50.

Olivet competes Nov. 15 at the 2014 NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional, which is being hosted by Wilmington (Ohio) College.

NOTES: Lutzke is only the third men's cross country runner in school history to earn All-MIAA honors. The other two were Tim Rice in 1993 and Tim Tatarka in 1998. The team's fifth-place finish at the championship meet and in the seasonal standings is the best in school history since 2003 when the Comets also placed fifth. The all-time best finish in school history was third in 1977.