ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 14-ranked St. Olaf College men's cross country team won its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) team title since 2016 by finishing 27 points ahead of the field on Saturday afternoon at Highland 9 Golf Course.
St. Olaf had seven of the top-16 individual finishers in the meet, including six All-MIAC performances, and used a 2-3-7-8-12 showing from its top five to win the 10th MIAC team title in program history with a total of 32 points. The Oles finished 27 points ahead of second-place Saint John's and 46 points ahead of third-place Carleton.
Junior
Will Kelly, senior
Logan Bocovich, senior
Noah Massanari, junior
David Lynn, senior
Kevin Montresor, and junior
Anders Cote all earned All-MIAC honors by virtue of their top-15 finishes, while junior
Gabe Estrada was one place away from the top 15 to pick up Honorable Mention All-MIAC laurels. Bocovich's all-conference accolade was his second in a row, while the other five Oles secured All-MIAC honors for the first time.
Kelly and Bocovich paced St. Olaf by finishing second (24:48.9) and third (24:52.0), respectively, and were separated by just over three seconds behind individual champion Mohammed Bati of Augsburg. Kelly moved up 19 spots from his 21st-place showing a year ago, while Bocovich improved one place from his fourth-place performance last season.
Massanari and Lynn made it four Oles in the top 10 by placing seventh (25:18.2) and eighth (25:32.0), respectively. Massanari's time of 25:18.2 was the best 8K time of his collegiate career and Lynn posted his second-straight top-25 finish after taking 23rd a year ago.
Like Massanari, Montresor posted the top 8K time of his collegiate career by placing 12th in 25:45.8. Cote claimed the final All-MIAC position in 15th (25:53.7), crossing the line roughly 10 seconds ahead of Estrada in 16th (25:04.3).
St. Olaf is next in action at the annual Great Karhu Shoe Race on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 4:30 p.m. on its home course before hosting the NCAA Division III North Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 12.
