Moon claims individual victory at Aurora Invitational

GENEVA, Ill. - Spencer Moon won the Aurora Invitational by over a minute, pacing Simpson men's cross country team into a second place finish overall in a 15-team field, at Northwestern Medicine XC Course, Saturday.

Moon's victory is now his fifth overall victory in his career. His time of 24:59.1 is the fourth time he has been under 25 minutes for the 8K event as a Storm runner.

Cade Mash recorded a top ten finish by running a career-best 26:36.5, becoming the second Simpson runner to cross the finish line.

A trio of Simpson runners rounded out the scoring lineup, all in the top 20. Noah Nelsen took 13th in a time of 26:39.5, while sophomore Marc Medici continued his impressive campaign with a time of 26:52.7, good for 14th place. Junior Ean Warrick finished the scoring by clocking a time of 27:03.1 to place 17th.

There were two other teams competing that were ranked in this week's USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. Fellow American Rivers Conference member Central, one spot ahead of the Storm in the rankings at No. 6, won the event, with five individuals in the top 10. However, Simpson bested Chicago, who was at No. 4 in the rankings.

"Spencer Moon ran terrific today," said head coach Heath Moenck. "We've got some talented guys on the team and I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone run better in the upcoming meets."

Up Next

The Storm are back in action on Oct. 14, as they travel to Ashland, Neb. for the Platte River Rumble.

Simpson Lineup
1. Spencer Moon - 24:59.1
10. Cade Mash - 26:36.5
13. Noah Nelsen - 26:39.5
14. Marc Medici - 26:52.7
17. Ean Warrick - 27:03.1
21. Andrew Klein - 27:10.1
35. Louden Foster - 27:35.6
50. Cole Leggett - 28:02.2
54. Jacob Willson - 28:09.1
74. Noah Smith - 28:34.4
86. Hank Gardner - 28:51.9
101. Blake Croushore - 29:12.9
120. Brody Wirtz - 29:33.5
125. Jason White - 29:52.2
138. Corbin Truitt - 30:14.6
141. Christian French - 30:19.9
165. Adam Gruhn - 31:27.5

Team Standings
1. Central College - 21 points
2. Simpson - 55 points
3. U. of Chicago - 84 points
4. Msoe - 138 points
5. Wheaton (Ill.) - 177 points
6 Greenville - 181 points
7 Nebraska Wesleyan - 190 points
8 Grinnell 208 points -
9 Illinois Wesleyan - 273 points
10 Aurora - 281 points
11 Elmhurst - 304 points
12 Illinois College - 309 points
13 Concordia (Wis.) - 408 points
14 Knox - 428 points
15 North Park - 441 points