MASON, Ohio - For the second straight year the Dickinson men's cross country team combined for an outstanding team effort at the NCAA Division III National Championship. The Red Devils ranked 26th in the most recent national coaches' poll, ran to a 12th place showing on Saturday afternoon.
Running on a great course hosted by the Golf Center at King's Island, the Red Devils finished 14 spots above their ranking, led by All-American performances from seniors Mark Weinhoffer (Meyersville, Pa./Oratory Prep) and Nick Stender (Chicago, Ill./Latin School of Chicago).
Weinhoffer crossed the line in 24:34 to finish 29th overall while Stender came in 32nd, just a second behind at 24:35.
Senior Hunter Smith (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South) clocked a time of 25:05, placing 71st overall with David Klein (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) coming in at 25:34. Zach Simmons (Lutherville, Md./Towson) and Eli Howard (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) posted marks of 25:57 and 25:59, and sophomore Mason Hepner (Mount Joy, Pa./Manheim) finished at 27:01.
The Red Devils made their eighth consecutive team appearance at the national championship, and for the second straight year finished above their ranking. Weinhoffer and Stender become Head Coach Don Nichter's fifth and sixth All-Americans in the history of the men's program. They join Matt Liebal '07, Greg Leak '09, and Dylan Straughan '12 and Ryan Steinbock '1
The Red Devils captured third at the Centennial Conference Championship and placed four runners on the All-Region team last weekend, earning an at-large bid with a fifth place showing in a very competitive Mideast Region.
MASON, Ohio – The Haverford College men's cross country team finished 14th at the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Kings Island Golf Center. Senior David Roza (pictured) set a personal best time with a 24:55.3, finishing in a team-best 50th place.
North Central (Ill.) won the national team title with a score of 130, 13 points in front of St. Olaf. Centennial Conference rival Dickinson finished in 12th place while Johns Hopkins was 26th. Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf won the individual crown with a 23:44.9, six seconds ahead of Colin Cotton of Williams.
The Fords' season ends with a Centennial Conference Championship for the 19th time in the last 22 seasons. Haverford also finished fourth in the Mideast Regional. Marquardt was named Mideast Region Runner of the Year after winning back-to-back individual titles in the Mideast Regional and Centennial Conference Championship.
MASON, OH - Stefan Arnold (pictured) finished 76th with a time of 25:07 and the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays finished 26th with a score of 633. Senior Austin Stecklair was the second Blue Jay across the finish line, finishing 115th.
The Blue Jays pushed off the box and filed into the pack of runners early, as the race began to take form. The flat, winding course provided easy maneuverability for spectators to run along with the competitors.
"I thought the crowd today was great; a lot of intensity, a lot of emotion. It was something I expected because I ran at nationals last season," Arnold explained.
In a loaded field that featured an exceptional amount of talent, the Blue Jays ran hard and competed at a high-level throughout.
"The heart of each our guys was on total display today," Van Allen said. "They competed hard from start to finish and showed tremendous character throughout."
In his second appearance at nationals, Schaffer Ochstein improved from his 26:18 time last year and finished with a 25:46 mark this time around. Similarly, Andrew Ceruzzi knocked 34 seconds off his time from last year's NCAA meet, finishing 224th. Meanwhile, Ryan Alvarez, running in his final cross country meet, clipped 25 seconds off last year's time and finished 236th.
The duo of Tyler Wolfe and Andrew Carey finished 245 and 250, respectively.
North Central edged St. Olaf, 130-143, to take home the championship for the 16th time in school history. St. Olaf senior Grant Wintheiser won the men's individual title with a time of 23:44.9, with an average mile time of 4:46.7. He is now just the third men's Division III runner to finish his career with three top-three finishes.