Carpenter Finishes 45th At NCAA Championship

UW-Oshkosh's Jordan Carpenter ran to a 45th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship held Saturday (Nov. 22) at the Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio.

Carpenter, who was the Titans' lone representative at the national meet, completed the 8,000-meter course in a time of 24:49. He previously finished 108th at the 2013 championship held in Hanover, Ind., and 264th at the 2011 event held in Winneconne.

Carpenter earned his 2014 trip to the Buckeye State by placing fifth at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional held Nov. 15 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf College (Minn.) won Saturday's race with a time of 23:44, while Colin Cotton of Williams College (Mass.) finished second in 23:51. Wintheiser placed third and Cotton 22nd at last year's meet.

Josh Thorson of UW-Eau Claire finished third with a time of 23:57, while Spencer Wenck of Massachusetts Institute of Technology placed fourth in 23:58 and Ian Lamere of UW-Platteville fifth in 24:01. A total of 280 runners crossed the finish line, with the top 35 earning All-America accolades by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

North Central College (Ill.) scored 130 points to capture its fourth team title in the last seven years and 16th overall. The Cardinals finished second a year ago.

Defending champion St. Olaf College placed second in the 32-team meet with 143 points, while UW-La Crosse ranked third with 188, Washington University (Mo.) fourth with 192 and Colby College (Maine) fifth with 192.

Other teams in the top 10 were sixth-place Williams College (Mass.) with 214 points, seventh-place UW-Eau Claire with 222, eighth-place Massachusetts Institute of Technology with 236, ninth-place Amherst College (Mass.) with 263 and 10th-place St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) with 313.

In the women's championship, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) scored 87 points to capture its third straight title.

UW-Oshkosh will host the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne.

Photo courtesy of d3photography.com

2014 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships Digital Program

2014 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships Host Website