MATTHEW DUNSWORTH OF UNIVERSITY OF THE OZARKS, a junior from Clarksville, Ark., has been selected the SCAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week for meets conducted from Friday, October 17 through Saturday, October 18. SCAC Cross Country Release (Week 8)

Dunsworth set a new program record at the 8k Mississippi College Watson Classic Friday in Clinton, Mississippi. Competing against NCAA I, NCAA II and NCAA III runners from across the region, Dunsworth ran a 25:10.40 to break the previous record held by Nathan Rankin (25:14.2), who set the mark in 2019. He was the first NCAA III runner to cross the finish line and was sixth overall. Dunsworth's time pushed the Eagles to a fourth place finish and its fourth straight top-10 finish. 

Other outstanding performances in the SCAC:
Senior Rabbit Barnes of Colorado College posted an outstanding individual effort at the prestigious Augustana Invitational last Saturday. Barnes finished 59th overall, crossing the line of the 8K course in 25:29.6 to lift the Tigers to an 11th-place overall team finish. Senior Samuel Valdez of Concordia (TX) notched a new PR, leading the Tornados at the Southwestern Showdown with a seventh-place individual finish. Valdez crossed the line of the 8K course in 27:13.16, the top D3 finisher in a competition against runners across all divisions. Senior Elijah Oudyn of LeTourneau paced the YellowJackets at the Arturo Barrios Invitational. Against competition across all divisions, Oudyn crossed the line of the 8K course in 26:06.9. First-year Dominic Pardon of Schreiner led the way for the Mountaineers at the Southwestern Showdown last week, finishing 14th with an 8K time of 27:38.9. Sophomore Jonas Martinez of Texas Lutheran secured a huge personal best at the Mississippi Watson Classic, finishing the 8k in a new school record time of 25:56.3. He secured a 20th place finish amongst a field of 200-plus runners across Divisions I, II, and III.