Riley, Boston spark (Kenyon College) Lords at regional race

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (November 15, 2008) Junior Matt Riley (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence) and senior Jim Boston (Brookfield, WI/Marquette) both earned all-region honors Saturday after placing among the top 35 individual finishers and guiding the Lords to a seventh-place team finish in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship held at Otterbein College.

One year ago, Riley placed 42nd at the regional race and the Lords placed tenth as a team. Saturday, Riley traversed the rain-soaked 8k course in 25:48.89 for a 30th-place finish among 240 participants. Boston, an NCAA championship qualifier last season, crossed the line just seconds later with a 35th-place time of 25:59.50. His result marked the third-straight season he was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's All-Great Lakes Region team. The same honor was a first for Riley.

Other Kenyon runners who contributed to the Lords' final team total of 243 points were seniors Kaleb Keyserling (Chapel Hill, NC/East Chapel Hill) and Chris Houser (Carmel, NY/Horace Greeley), as well as freshman Matt Davis (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley). Of the three, Davis was the quickest to the line. He clocked in at 26:09.79 for a 49th-place finish. Keyserling placed 52nd with a time of 26:14.13 and Houser was 77th with a time of 26:32.27.

The overall race winner was Jed Christiansen of Calvin College. He completed the course in 24:44.03 and led the Knights to the regional title with 37 points. Ohio Northern University placed second with 88 points and Mount Union College was third with 121 points. By virtue of their finishes, the teams from Calvin and Ohio Northern earned automatic bids into the NCAA Championship race, which will take place next Saturday at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.

-- final results --