Rowan men’s cross country took home fourth place at the ninth annual Border Battle at DREAM Park in Logan Township, New Jersey on Saturday, Oct. 19. 

Head coach Dustin Dimit was pleased with the improvements that he saw on Saturday which resulted in a top-five finish. 

“We had a goal to go out there and be top-five,” Dimit said. “The three teams that beat us were all top-15 teams in the country and it looked really good there. But we saw improvement from what we saw two weeks before. And that’s what we’re looking for at this time of year, making sure we’re beating the teams we need to beat to keep that nationals dream alive, as well as improving to set ourselves up well to win the NJAC at the next meet and contend for that regional title.”

The Profs finished with 135 points on Saturday, while Lynchburg finished at the top with 49 points. Both Washington & Lee and Johns Hopkins finished with 56 points. 

The standout for Rowan University was senior Joshua Cason, as he placed ninth in the championship run (24:42.7). Dimit was thrilled to see Cason represent himself and execute the game plan to perfection. 

“That was a lifetime best by almost 20 seconds,” Dimit said. “Where he went out and executed an elite field of guys, a bunch of guys that are All-Americans. He ran a perfect race plan, moved up, and finished top-ten like the goal was.”

The Sicklerville native was happy to see his work pay off in his performance on Saturday, however, he knows that sticking together as a team will be the most important factor for the team heading into the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships. 

“I was really happy,” Cason said. “It wasn’t something that I was really expecting going into the season, but I’m glad to have earned it and I feel like I’ve been working all season toward that. Stick together and find each other during the race and work up to each other.”

Not only did Cason achieve a top-ten finish at Border Battle, but he was the NJAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week for the second week in a row because of his performance at DREAM Park, which is an absolute honor for the senior.

“It was really nice,” Cason said. “It was nice getting it back-to-back considering that I hadn’t won it before, it’s a great feeling. I’m really honored to have it. Glad that we represented NJAC.” 

The Profs will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 2 in the NJAC Championships hosted by The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Dimit has high expectations for his guys for that meet, as anything short of running their fastest race of the season would be a disappointment. 

“We’re really trying to set them up to run their fastest here at the end of the year,” Dimit said.

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