The University of the Cumberlands Cross Country teams accomplished a lot this year. Both teams were named Conference Champions, Region 11 Champions, and competed at the NAIA National Cross Country Championship. Many athletes attained their goal of setting new personal-best times and performances.

Both teams did especially well considering they were composed of some very young athletes. The men's top seven team had two seniors, Adam Honnold (Frankfort, OH), and Josiah Melly (Kitale Kenya) to lead the team. Landen O'Bannion (Camden, OH) was the sole junior. Michael Veatch (Middletown, OH), Carl Roberts (Austin, IN), Malcolm Tipton (Middletown, OH), and Brad Wells (Portage, OH) were all freshmen.

Sophomores dominated the women's team. Sisters Kelly and Shelly Schnee (Milan, OH), Christy Sumner (Bowling, Green, KY), and Meggy Rawe (Alexandria, KY) were in their second year of running. Amanda Hayes (Urbana, OH) also joined the team after red-shirting last season. Whitney Brainard (Somerset, KY) was the only freshman, and Barb Davies (Gibsonburg, OH) was the sole junior.

This year, the teams proved that though they may be young, they’re no amateurs in competition. The Patriots raced against many competitive teams this season. Both the men and women finished second place at the Miami Invitational in Miami, OH, as the only NAIA competitors. By the next race, a drastic improvement was already evident. At Louisville, the men took seventh place out of 41 teams. The women took 18th of 38 teams. At the Furman University Invitational in Greenville, SC, the men finished in fourth place and the women captured tenth. The Southeastern Classic at Versailles, KY was the toughest course of the season, ranked a four out of five for level of difficulty. The Patriots didn’t break down, though. The men’s team finished second and the women third. Both teams dominated the Mid-South Conference and Region 11 Competition. From there, they went to Nationals where the men finished thirteenth and the women twenty-fifth.

Josiah Melly was named Mid-South Conference Runner of the Week four times. Whitney Brainard was named runner of the week once. Melly, Adam Honnold, and Michael Veatch were the team’s leaders throughout most of the season. For the women, Kelly Schnee, Whitney Brainard, Christy Sumner, and Shelly Schnee ran in a pack to defeat the competition. For the men, Josiah Melly had the fastest run of the season in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:16. On the women’s side, Christy Sumner’s 19:42 in the 5,000-meter was the team’s best time. The men climbed to as high of a ranking as sixth in the nation.

Head Coach, Floyd Stroud was pleased with this year’s team. “Considering this is such a young team, it was a good year of learning and we certainly look forward to what we can do with another year of experience under our feet. The freshman showed a lot of potential and did a good job of stepping up and pushing themselves to the limit. We are fortunate to have most of the women’s team returning. It will be difficult saying good-bye to the seniors on the men’s side.