Full Results (.pdf) I Photo Gallery

CARMEL, Ind. - The IUPUI men's cross country team showed a glimpse of what's in store for the 2019 season on Friday night (Aug. 30) as the Jaguars flexed some fast times in the season opening Butler Twilight at Northview Church. The Jags finished just behind host Butler, but was still impressive with some of the new faces running unattached as possible redshirts. 

Redshirt sophomore Alex Ratkovich was the brightest of the IUPUI bunch, clocking a time of 18:31.5 to place third among the 56-runner field. 

The meet was essentially a dual between IUPUI and Butler as the crosstown Bulldogs outgunned the Jaguars by 13 points while Wabash was a distance third. Junior Ben Savage finished sixth in the 6K race in a time of 18:39.6 and true freshman Brennan Butche was eighth at 18:51.9. Sophomore Eric Hoffman placed ninth at 18:55.3 and freshman Nate Kaiser rounded out the scoring five in 15th at 19:13.3. 

IUPUI's top finisher at the Horizon League Championships last season, Dustin Starnes, was 18th at 19:22.8 and Josh Everetts was just behind him at 19:23.5 to finish 19th. 

"I think we've got something really special going here," head coach Chuck Koeppen said. "We've got some young guys who are eager to show us what they've got and guys like Butche and Kaiser kind of showed that tonight. Ratkovich is just tough as nails and just keeps getting better and better. Then you throw in some guys like Savage and Hoffman, who are two of our captains, and I think we've got a pretty good group up there up front.

"We've got some other guys who are knocking on the door too and I think we've got a couple more freshmen we can pull up to give us quite a bit of depth. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little excited about this team and about where we're heading."

All total, 16 different Jaguars ran in uniform on Friday a cast of others running unattached. 

While the conditions were more favorable this season than last at the Butler event, Ratkovich beat last year's winning time by 24 seconds and Savage took 50 seconds off his effort from last year's opener. Hoffman, who ran unattached last season, shed more than a minute off last year's time, as did Starnes. 

The Jaguars will return to action next weekend when they compete in the Crusader Open on Saturday, Sept. 6 in Valparaiso. 

Team Standings
1. Butler - 22
2. IUPUI - 35
3. Wabash - 79

Individual Results
3. Alex Ratkovich - 18:31.5
6. Ben Savage - 18:39.6
8. Brennan Butche - 18:51.9
9. Eric Hoffman - 18:55.3
15. Nate Kaiser - 19:13.3
18. Dustin Starnes - 19:22.8
19. Josh Everetts - 19:23.5
22. Josh Campbell - 19:30.9
23. Jarit Perkins - 19:34.5
24. Lucas Rhed - 19:38.8
25. Roman Jennings - 19:42.2
30. Josh Whitaker - 19:58.0
40. Noah Kramer - 20:35.0
46. Jacob Williams - 20:55.6
47. Dakota Merkel - 20:58.1
48. Brandon Will - 21:09.6