NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The ninth-ranked St. Olaf College men's cross country team posted the largest margin of victory in recorded conference history while completing a three-peat at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships on Saturday at St. Olaf Cross Country Course.

St. Olaf won its third consecutive MIAC team title by placing all of its five scorers in the top 10 to record a team total of 23 points, which was the lowest point total for a MIAC champion since the Oles posted a total of 16 points in 2014. The Oles' 73-point margin over second-place Saint John's University (96 points) surpassed a pair of 62-point differentials (St. Olaf in 2015, St. Thomas in 1986) for the largest gap between the team winner and runner-up in MIAC annals.

In addition to being the program's third consecutive MIAC title, the championship was the 12th in program history (1938, 1976, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024) for St. Olaf, breaking a tie with Macalester College for the third-most MIAC titles in conference history. It was also the first time since 2019 that the same institution won the men's and women's races, the first MIAC title for the Oles on their home course, and the first time that St. Olaf has won the championships in both races in the same year.

St. Olaf cruised to the victory with a 2-3-4-5-9 finish from its five scorers and had 10 of the top-25 finishers overall. Six Oles earned All-MIAC accolades with top-15 performances while four more finished in the honorable-mention spots (16-25).

Augsburg University's Mohammed Bati became the first runner in the meet's history to break the 24-minute mark with a winning time of 23:56.1 to win his third MIAC individual title in a row. After Bati, four consecutive Oles crossed the finish line, as junior Kevin Turlington (24:49.1), senior Andrew Skemp (24:58.6), junior Jack Deaver (25:05.0), and junior Gael Manzur Strandlund (25:05.7) finished second through fifth.

Turlington and Skemp both earned their second All-MIAC accolades in a row, while Deaver, Manzur Strandlund, junior Ignatius Fitzgerald, and junior Parker Max all landed All-MIAC honors for the first time. Fitzgerald was the fifth Ole in the top 10 in ninth (25:19.1), while Max was 13th (25:34.9). Manzur Strandlund, Fitzgerald, and Max's times were all PRs by over 10 seconds.

Senior Sean Hartney, junior Eli Doran, fifth-year senior Anders Cote, and sophomore Alex Bjork were St. Olaf's four honorable-mention performers.

The Oles will host the AECMR on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the final race of the season for the team's runners who will not compete at the NCAA Division III North Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 16.