MARION, IN – Martin Batel had no problem adjusting to the early September heat Friday evening pacing the Tigers to a 6th place team finish at the IWU Twilight.

Batel, a graduate transfer ran a 25:32.1 placing 14th overall. That time places Batel as the 6th fastest runner in program history for the 8K distance. Lukas Smithson was close behind Batel in the standings placing 29th overall running 25:54.8, less than one second off his lifetime best.

Myles Smithson and Jean-Benoit Merte finished in clutch positioning back-to-back in 38th and 39th place overall. Myles placed 38th, running 26:03.4, while Merte was 39th in 26:06.2. Myles ran his fastest time on the IWU course by 18 seconds Friday evening.

Samuel Bennett came in as the fifth man for Campbellsville on Friday. Bennett ran a lifetime best on Friday in 26:39.6 placing 68th. Aaron Smith and Samuel Larson rounded out the top seven for the Tigers. Smith ran 68 seconds faster than his debut for Campbellsville last season on the same course with a time of 27:17.9, placing 101st this season. Larson was 64 seconds behind last season at this point, on the same course, placing 118th in the race with a time of 27:29.5.

As a team, the Tigers placed 6th place with a team average time of 26:03 and their 1-5 spread of 1:07.5. Campbellsville will return to the course in two weeks on Friday, September 20th at the Larry Young Invitational. The Tigers will get a preview at this year's NAIA National Championship course while out in Columbia, Missouri. 

• Campbellsville took down NAIA Top-25 opponents Shawnee State (20th) and Marian University (23rd) on Friday.
• This is the first time Campbellsville beat Shawnee State in a race since the 2015 season when the team won the Mid-South Conference Championship title.
• In the Corbin Harris era, this is the fastest team average time at the IWU Twilight of 26:03. 
• The difference between 4th and 7th place was eight points on Friday while three of the four teams averaged 26:03.