TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - A short-handed IUPUI men's cross country squad put up a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Friday (Nov. 11), fueled by strong efforts from Grant Moon and Nick Perkins. Moon, a sophomore, clocked the fifth-best 10,000m time in program history, crossing the finish line in a time of 31:06.3 and took 53 seconds off his previous best. 

Four of IUPUI's six entries established new personal bests on Friday. 

"I'm very pleased with today's effort. We had our fair share of battles this year with illness and injuries, but this squad kept fighting for one another," head coach Justin Roeder said. "They ran their race today and moved up massively in the final 2,000 meters to finish 15th in the region. 

"Individually, Grant Moon has been on a mission this season and we are thrilled to see him inspire others on the team as he continues to lead us. We walk away from this result content, but also excited for what is in store these upcoming years."

Moon just missed becoming the third IUPUI runner in program history to dip under 31 minutes and ran 31:59.7 at the same distance last season. 

"I could not be more proud of how we ran as a team today. This season was not what we envisioned but being able to put on one final good performance is something everyone on this team should be extremely happy with," Moon said. 

Behind him, Nick Perkins finished 58th overall in a time of 31:26.3 and Mitchell Gits closed at 32:21.7, placing 111th. Mitchell Rans notched a personal best time of 32:28.9 to cross 118th overall and Matthew Leppert rounded out the group of scorers in 146th place in a time of 33:13.4. Jack Acton finished at 34:05.1 to round out IUPUI's entrants while Eric Petersen had to scratch due to injury, leaving the Jaguars with just six men on the line. 

"I want to give a shout out to my fellow coach, Jay Miller, for stepping in this year. These results wouldn't be possible without his work," Roeder said. "Finally, a thanks are in order to all the family and friends of our program that drove across the region to continually cheer on our student-athletes. The presence and support for our program is something we truly cherish."

The Jaguars will now turn focus to indoor track season which will begin for the program in January.