GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Campbellsville came away with a top-ten finish on Saturday at the NAIA Great Lakes Invitational, with
Dominic Malel earning runner-up for the third time this season.
Malel not only led the Tigers to a 10th place finish, but he also set a new school record in the process. Malel passes graduate assistant and NAIA All-American last season
Isaac Kiprop with a new record time of 24:18.80. Teammate
Lukas Smithson ran a 19.90 second personal best to move up the top ten list on the team with a time of 25:08.10 placing 41st and now sits at 5th all time.
Jean-Benoit Merte moved his way onto the Tigers top ten listing for the fastest 8K all-time on Saturday. Merte stepped up for the Tigers as the third man in with a personal best time of 25:13.50, placing 49th, and is now 6th on the all-time list. Before Saturday, Merte's highest position on the team was fourth man.
Martin Batel was the fourth man in for Campbellsville with a one-second personal best of 25:31.10, placing 72nd in the race.
Myles Smithson rounded out the top five for the team on Saturday with a personal best in the race of 25:51.80, placing 101st.
Samuel Bennett and rookie
Brayden Kaelin came in as the sixth and seventh man. Bennett ran another personal best this season on Saturday in 26:13.70. Kaelin dipped under the 27-minute barrier for the first time in his career on Saturday with a time of 26:33.70.
As a team, Campbellsville shattered the school record for team average time set at the Greater Louisville Classic earlier this month of 25:42.32. On Saturday, they ran an average time of 25:12.00 with a 1-5 spread of 1:33.00. The Tigers beat out multiple NAIA Top-25 teams and receiving votes teams, placing 10th overall with 251 points.
This meet concludes the regular season for Campbellsville as they will now look ahead toward the Mid-South Conference Championships on Friday, November 8th, in Bowling Green, KY.
- Bennett has now ran the entire season under the 27-minute barrier, previously he had never broken the barrier this season.
- Campbellsville beat out three NAIA Top-25 teams on Saturday and two receiving votes.
- Lukas Smithson has dropped 54.1 seconds from his slowest time this season of 26:02.10 at the Larry Young Invitational.
