The #22 Middlebury men's cross country team finished in third place at the NCAA Mideast Championship. Eighth-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) won the event with 44 points, while #7 Williams was second (95 points) and the Panthers tallied 104 points.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Leading the way for Middlebury was Benjamin Hughes, crossing the line in fourth place, which was the highest individual finish for a Panther since 2019. Hughes clocked in at 25:16.8, with the top-five racers spreading just 12 seconds. 
• Claiming 19th place, Cameron Miles recorded a time of 25:37.2. The sophomore climbed 26 spots from a year ago to finish as Middlebury's second runner.
• Battling down the stretch was Owen Johnson and Ethan Sholk, placing 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Johnson clocked in at 25:40.1, while Sholk was just 0.7 seconds behind.
• The final scorer for the Panthers was Zach Utz, crossing the line in 26:01.5 to secure 36th place. 

NOTES

• Just five spots back and nearly in the scoring group was Nathan Szubin with a time of 26:17.3. 
• This marked the fifth race this season that Hughes finished in the top-10 places.

With a top-seven individual finish, Hughes has earned a spot in the NCAA Championship, while the team will learn if it earns one of 22 at-large bids this Sunday.