BOONE, N.C.- Queens University of Charlotte's men's cross country team finished second for the second time this season at the Mountaineer Open Friday afternoon. The Royals' 41-points was not enough to knock off Ohio State who scored 27-points, but easily outdistanced 3rd-place Appalachian State's 68-points, 4th-place Clemson's 106-points and 5th-place UNC-Wilmington's 177-points in the eleven-team field that also included conference rival Lees-McRae College.

The Royal's Michael Crouch (Yucca Valley, Calif., Yucca Valley) was the individual champion running 19:41.29 on the muddy waterlogged four mile course. Senior Futsum Mebrahtu (Phoenix, Ariz., North)charged his way into the Buckeyes' top five finishing sixth overall withOscar Ogwaro (Los Angeles, Calif., Woodrow Wilson)in eighth. Junior Simon Stuetzel (Meinborn, Germany)took 12th to score for Queens for the first time this year with Matthew Rowell (Show Low, Ariz. , Blue Ridge )close in 14th to complete team scoring.

“We still have a long way to go to match and to improve upon our national ranking,” said coach Scott Simmons. “Our focus remains on training and we are seeing improvements weekly. The best teams in Division II have set a high bar so we have a lot to do to be as good as we can be.”

Queens, ranked number six in the nation and number one in both the conference and the Southeast Region, showed its depth with eight runners in the top 40 in the 126-man race. The Royals are 13-2 for the season and compete next at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Kentucky October 3rd.

1 – Ohio State (27)
2 – Queens (41)
3 – Appalachian (68)
4 – Clemson (106)
5 – UNC-Wilmington (177)
6 – Lees-McRae (177)
7 – King (191)
8 – Milligan (227)
9 – Montreat (267)
10 – Brevard (315)
11 – Emory and Henry (337)

 1 Crouch, Michael           JR Queens                19:41.29    1
 2 See, Jeff                 SR Ohio State            19:54.27    2
 3 Mitchell, Phil            SR Appalachian           19:59.90    3
 4 Williams, Taylor          SO Ohio State            20:06.81    4
 5 Meyer, Julian             FR Ohio State            20:07.86    5
 6 Mebrahtu, Futsum          SR Queens                20:13.44    6
 7 Olinger, Chris            SR Ohio State            20:13.81    7
 8 Ogwaro, Oscar             SR Queens                20:16.22    8
 9 Roys, Donny               FR Ohio State            20:17.49    9
10 Green, Adam               SO Ohio State            20:26.16   10
11 Soderman, Sean            SO Appalachian           20:35.33   11
12 Stuetzel, Simon           JR Queens                20:41.48   12
13 Meyer, Alec               SR Appalachian           20:42.72   13
14 Rowell, Matt              SR Queens                20:46.37   14
15 Slate, Chris              JR Clemson               20:46.92   15
16 Balyo, Chad               JR Ohio State            20:47.51   16
17 Sunde, Johnathan          JR Clemson               20:49.75   17
18 Leslie, Cory              FR Ohio State            20:52.30
19 Galloway, Bud             SR Appalachian           20:53.45   18
20 Holt, Chad                JR Clemson               20:57.4