FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IU Indianapolis men's cross country team earned a third-place finish at the 2025 Horizon League Championships on Saturday (Nov. 1), using a balanced attack to close with 99 points. Redshirt sophomore Luke Shappell earned Second Team All-Horizon League honors, placing ninth overall in a time of 24:08.7 in a blistering fast 8K race. 

The Jaguars rolled out an assortment of personal bests and put four times among the program's top-12 all-time against a strong Horizon League field.

"I think the team had a pretty good race," interim head coach Justin Amburgy said. "Obviously, a little bummed out to not get top-two, get on the podium and get a trophy, but Oakland and Youngstown have some pretty old squads there and we've got a very young squad of guys, which makes me excited for the future for sure.

"Pretty much, in our top seven we're bringing back everyone next besides (Mitsch), who was our No. 7, and we're bringing in some top talent."

Shappell was on the lead pack from the opening gun, finishing among a tight pack of veteran runners from across the league. His time eclipsed his personal best by 36 seconds and was just more than two seconds off the program record. 

"It was really fun," Shappell said of his race. "I trusted my teammates, trusted coach and trusted my training and it was just a lot of fun to go out there and compete with guys who I really look up to in this conference. The Youngstown and Oakland guys just pushed me all the way. It was just a lot of fun."

Behind him, redshirt freshman Nick Cook spun a time of 24:32.0, placing 17th overall and third among league freshmen. His time was 18 seconds quicker than his previous best and just five seconds off an all-league berth. Sophomores Riley Nixon and Joey LaPatra placed 22nd and 23rd, respectively, at 24:39.2 and 24:39.4. Nixon's time was a 35-second personal best and LaPatra shed 16 seconds off his prior best. 

Joey Ashman closed out the scoring five at 24:44.3 to take 37 seconds off his previous best effort. Another sophomore, Sam Grimes, set a 30-second personal best with a time of 24:59.7, placing 38th overall. 

Senior Matt Mitsch posted a season best time of 25:19.3 and Nolan King recorded a personal best time of 25:42.8, placing 70th. Redshirt freshman Carter Schorr clocked a personal best time of 25:50.3 and Noah Price had a major personal best effort of 25:52.1. 

Freshmen Isaac Riggs and Eli Oetken rounded out the team's entries at 26:00.4 and 26:03.6, respectively. 

Youngstown State put five runners among the top-20 in earning the team title with 50 points while Oakland was second at 92 points. Green Bay's Noah Jahnke won the race in a time of 23:38.4 while Northern Kentucky's Natnael Weldemichael was second at 23:47.5. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Friday, Nov. 14 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Evansville, Ind.