NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 11-ranked St. Olaf College men's cross country team successfully defended its title at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships by placing six runners in the top 11 to claim the team title on Saturday at Carleton College's Bill Huyck Championship Course.

After winning its 10th MIAC championship last year, St. Olaf repeated the feat by getting a 2-6-7-9-10 finish from its top-five finishers to record 34 points in the standings and finish 31 points clear of No. 23-ranked Carleton on its home course. The back-to-back titles are the first for the Oles since winning five-straight championships from 2012-16.

St. Olaf had seven student-athletes earn All-MIAC honors with top-15 finishes and four more collect Honorable Mention All-MIAC laurels by finishing between 16th and 25th. Senior Will Kelly, sophomore Kevin Turlington, junior Andrew Skemp, senior David Lynn, senior Anders Cote, junior Sean Hartney, and senior Ian Curtis all collected All-MIAC honors, while junior Olaf Coffey, sophomore Gael Manzur Strandlund, sophomore Jack Deaver, and junior Jackson Marsh were honorable mention honorees. Kelly, Lynn, Cote, and Curtis posted the second All-MIAC finishes of their careers, while Turlington, Skemp, and Hartney were first-time honorees.

For the second season in a row, Kelly was the runner-up in the conference to Mohammed Bati of Augsburg University, who won the individual title in 24:23.6 Kelly was 18 seconds off Bati's pace in 24:41.3 to lead the way for St. Olaf.

Turlington was the Oles' second finisher in sixth place (24:56.8) and Skemp was just half a second behind the sophomore in seventh (24:57.3). Lynn and Cote made it five top-10 individuals for St. Olaf, with Lynn placing ninth (25:06.0) and Cote 10th (25:10.9). Hartney added an 11th-place performance in 25:23.8 and Curtis grabbed the final All-MIAC spot in 15th (25:30.5).

Coffey, Manzur Strandlund, Deaver, and Marsh landed in the honorable mention spots in 16th, 20th, 21st, and 24th places, respectively.

St. Olaf turns its attention to the NCAA Division III North Region Championships, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis. Before that, the Oles will host the AECMR for their runners not competing at regionals on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.