The opposing teams were not the only obstacles the Middlebury men's cross country team had to overcome on Saturday, as the team battled through harsh winter conditions at the NCAA Championships. 
 
COURSE INFORMATION

• Location: Forest Akers East Golf Course (Lansing, Mich.)
• Distance: 8 kilometers (8K)
• Weather: 21F (feels like 10F) + 19 mph wind
• Finish: 27th of 32

HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury was paced by Ziggy Goddard, who climbed 165 spots after the initial mile marker. Goddard placed 114th in a field of 292 runners, moving up 76 places from last year's championship with a time of 26:10.3.
• Zander Kessler was the next Panther across the finish line, clocking in at 26:25.0, which was good for 163rd. 
• Owen Johnson was just two spots back, crossing with a time of 26:26.1.
• Rounding out the scorers were Alec Gironda (177th - 26:29.2) and Luke Lorenz (179th - 26:29.9). 
• Max Cluss was the sixth finisher for Middlebury, climbing 55 spots from the first-mile split, while Shef West rounded out the Panther racers in his NCAA debut. 

FROM HEAD COACH WILKERSON

• "The conditions today were tough, which favored some people and not others," said head coach Nicole Wilkerson. "All of our athletes raced with everything they had in them. The whole team sent it fully and I couldn't have asked for anything more than that. The overall success of the season is not the result of just one race, it never is. While today may have fallen shy of our expectations, I think we had an unbelievably awesome season and I am proud of this team."

Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the national title with 82 points, after finishing as the runner-up a year ago. The Engineers were the only team to record a sub-100-point score during the event, with Wartburg finishing in second (129 points) and SUNY Geneseo (168 points) rounding out the top three. Alex Phillip of John Carroll defended his title from 2021, crossing the finish line with a time of 24:37.6.