KERNERSVILEE, N.C.- Sophomore Andrew Schille rocketed to a second place finish to lift the Northern Kentucky University men's cross country team to a fourth place (134 points) overall finish at the VertCross Invitational hosted by High Point University on Friday. The women's team led by Hannah Tobler took 10^th (226 points) overall in a strong field of 20 teams.
 
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"It was a confident run by Andrew (Schillie)," head cross country coach Steve Kruse said. "It was a conservative large pack and the beginning and that presented him a strong opportunity to lead the final mile, eventually to be outdueled in the final stretch. The squad got some much needed backup from Michael Mangus, Alec Sandusky and Ryan Burrows in the race. On the women's side we were in the mix and fought in the trenches with some very tough teams. Hannah Tobler and Jennah Flairty worked through the pack together with Hannah pulling away at the end. Kelly (Burrows) stuck with her race while freshmen Renee Svec and Natalie Lienhert worked well in the middle mile. Overall it was a just good to field a healthy team today."
 
The men's 8K results

• Schille took second place overall with a time of 25:05.03 (2 points), just barely being edged out by Chris Anderson of Appalachian State who posted a time of 25:01.81 for the win.
• Mangus (23^rd, 25:44.31, 17 points), Sandusky (35^th, 26:00.73, 28 points), Burrows (37^th, 26:02.61, 30 points), Tristan Tapia (73^rd, 26:29.47, 57 points), Blake Meyer (88^th, 26:48.08, 66 points) and Caleb Augustus (91^st, 26:51.48, 68 points) rounded out the Norse scoring.
• The 8K race featured 234 runners and 22 teams on the course. George Mason got the overall win tallying 64 points with Duke (83 points) and East Tennessee State (111 points) following in second and third respectively.

 
 The women's 6K results

• Tobler took 41^st (31 points) overall in a time of 22:25.95 as NKU's top finisher.
• Flairty (46^th, 23:00.57, 36 points), Burrows (53^rd, 23:10.11, 42 points), Svec (71^st, 23:38.78, 54 points), Lienhert (82^nd, 23:53.65, 63 points) and Rylee Tanner (150^th, 25:12.17, 108 points) rounded out the Norse scoring.
• The 6K race featured 207 runners with 20 teams on the course. Duke took first (70 points) overall with Appalachian State (72 points) and Richmond (109 points) following in second and third respectively.

 
Up next

• NKU returns to action at the 2016 Horizon League Cross Country Championship set for Oct. 29, in Parkside, Wisconsin. Milwaukee will serve as this year's host.