The Middlebury men's cross country team finished in 25th place at the NCAA Championship on a hilly course with rainy and windy conditions. Wisconsin-La Crosse claimed the national title by 96 points (77 points), while Wartburg was second with 173 points and Pomona-Pitzer rounded out the top three (182 points). The individual crown went to Wisconsin-Whitewater's Christian Patzka who clocked in at 24:01.6 to earn the championship by less than two seconds.

COURSE INFORMATION

• Location: Terre Haute, Ind. 
• Course: LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
• Host School: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• Weather: 39F / Rainy
• Distance: 8 kilometers (8K)
• Place: 25th of 32

HIGHLIGHTS

• The first Middlebury finisher was Ziggy Goddard, moving up 27 spots over the final 1.5K to place 91st with a time of 25:09.2. This was the second time Goddard cracked the top-100 spots at the national championship, having placed 44th a year ago.
• In his third appearance on the national stage, Drew Donahue raced inside the top-100 efforts, clocking a time of 25:11.4 to finish 97th overall. 
• Finishing in 25:23.5 was Benjamin Hughes (133rd), followed by Tucker Jakobe in 25:43.9 (190th).
• Rounding out the scorers was Cameron Miles, clocking in at 26:18.3 to finish 256th.
• Harry Griff (259th - 26:20.4) and Shef West (265th, 26:29.7) were also part of the Panther lineup.

NOTES

• Middlebury earned an at-large bid to the championship and made its 14th-straight appearance on the national stage.
• Goddard's twin brother Will also raced in the event, representing conference foe Bowdoin and placing 46th

The Panthers started the season with a pair of invitational wins and finished third at both the NESCAC Championship and the NCAA Mideast Regional.