MASON, Ohio - Grant Wintheiser captured the NCAA Division III men's cross country individual title, leading three All-America performances, as the St. Olaf men's cross country team's bid for a second straight national championship fell just short as Oles finished second behind North Central University.

North Central had 130 team points and used four finishes inside the top 50 to hold off the Oles (143), who had three in the top 14.  

Wintheiser, who was third in 2013 and  2012, finished in 23:44.9 to win the individual crown, holding off Williams' Colin Cotton (23:51.3) and UW-Eau Claire's Josh Thorson (23:57.1). 

The Oles' Jake Campbell (24:07) and Paul Escher (24:19.7) earned All-America honors as well, finishing ninth and 14th overall. Phillip Meyer (24:52.0) was 47th and Jake Brown (25:28.0) 116th. 

North Central was paced by Travis Morrison's seventh place finish and Aron Sebhat, who was 12th. 

The NCAA appearance was the fourth straight and sixth in seven seasons under head coach Phil Lundin and assistant coach Dave Griffith. The Oles were 15th in his first season and 21st in 2009. After a one-year hiatus in 2010, the Oles finished ninth in 2011, 14th in 2012 before winning the school's first NCAA national championship in any sport with the team title last season.  The Oles' MIAC title was the third straight and fourth in the seven years under Lundin's watch.