Titans Earn Fifth Place At NCAA Championship

UW-Oshkosh finished in fifth place at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday (Nov. 19) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

North Central College (Ill.) scored 110 points to capture its second national title in three years and 14th overall. Defending champion Haverford College (Pa.) finished second with 172 points and Washington University (Mo.) third with 206.

Rounding out the top-five teams were fourth-place State University of New York-Geneseo with 235 points and UW-Oshkosh fifth with 277. A total of 32 teams were entered in the meet.

UW-Oshkosh’s top runner was Nate Stymiest (Sr. • Oconto Falls), who placed 16th with a time of 24:35. He finished seventh at last year’s meet.

The Titans also received scoring from Tyler Morey’s (Sr. • Combined Lakes) 32nd-place time of 24:43, Sean Kutz’s (So. • Grantsburg) 34th-place figure of 24:46, John Dewitt’s (Jr. • Oshkosh) 69th-place showing in 25:05 and Erik Hofferber's (So. • Neenah) 211th-place mark of 26:01. Kutz, Morey and Stymiest gained NCAA Division III All-America status from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

UW-Oshkosh's contestants were rounded out by Zach Adams' (Jr. • Lake Geneva) 229th-place time of 26:06 and Jordan Carpenter's (Fr. • Ashwaubenon) 264th-place effort of 26:44.

Ben Sathre of the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) outran 278 other men for first place, finishing with a time of 23:44. Following in second was Lee Berube of State University of New York-Geneseo in 23:49, John Johnston of St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) in third at 24:06, Tim Nelson of UW-Stout in fourth at 24:13 and Matthew Perez of North Central College in fifth at 24:15.

UW-Oshkosh, which finished 11th at last year's meet, won NCAA Division III titles in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2002.