Midland Strong at Midwest Meet of Champions

After a 2 week training period since the Trinity Invitational, Midland headed to Dublin, Ohio for the Midwest Meet of Champions to face another top notch field. This marks only the 3rd time Midland has raced this season and the strategy is paying off with big results each time from the Midland runners.

The MMOC competition offered numerous elite teams and individuals in all races along with a well groomed fast course. The temperatures were near 60 degrees with a strong breeze throughout the course. However, the breeze appeared not to slow down the runners too much and the meet produced some fast times along with strong team showings. LaSalle would come out on top with Medina and Cabell Midland rounding out the top 3 spots.

Jacob Burcham would lead his Knights again with a smart race strategy to come from behind and finish 2nd overall. His 15:05 was only 4 ticks behind Mason's, Zach Wills, 15:01 winning time. Burcham's 15:05 is the top sophomore time in the nation and also West Virginia's top season performance. Burcham wasn't the only Midland runner to produce an impressive time. Tyler Salmons ran 15:55 to finish 24th overall followed by a stellar performance from Sophomore Jeremy Waugh's 16:12. Ryan Smith continues to stay consistent at 16:26 to finish 60th followed closely by sophomore Avery Campbell's 16:30. Mason Dino continued to stay in Midland's top 7 with his 16:59 followed by Steven Egnatoff's 17:13.

In the boys open race, Midland would finish a strong 2nd overall behind powerhouse LaSalle. Midland appeared to have a lock on the team title until David Jobe's allergies kicked in forcing him to fade from the top 3 to 36th overall. It would be Jared King stepping up for Midland to run a 17:07 to take 4th overall followed by Andrew Ferguson 10th place finish in 17:18. Matthew Edmunds would PR in 17:21 for 12th overall followed by Freshman, Eric Wooten's 17:22 good enough for 16th overall. Midland's bid on their "Elite 7" is forming into a fierce battle for those 7 spots.

Due to Homecoming, Midland would only enter one runner in the girls race. Standout, Jorden Thornton, would run a 19:40 placing her 42nd overall among an elite field of 138 runners.


Check out the recap article http://usa.milesplit.com/articles/52126
Check out Burcham's video http://wv.milesplit.com/videos/13029?id=13029
Check out full results full results http://oh.milesplit.com/meets/65526