FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Results

WINNECONE, Wis. (Oct. 19, 2013) - The North Cenral College men's cross country team made a loud and clear statement about its intentions at next month's NCAA Division III National Championships on Saturday, storming away from a national-caliber field and winning by a dominant margin in the 37-team University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational at Lake Breeze Golf Course.

The Cardinals, who have been the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in the nation since August, solidified that status and then some, placing seven runners among the top 19 in a field of 566 competitors and seven other nationally ranked Division III programs and snagging the team trophy with just 33 points.

No. 3-ranked Washington University in St. Louis placed second with 64 points, while the 14th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was a distant third with 133. THe top five was rounded out by he seventh-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (152) and NCAA Division II representative, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (223).

North Central's John Crain made it a clean sweep of the meet's major awards, emerging with a first-place finish in a season-best time of 24 minutes, 20.74 seconds on the 8,000-meter (five-mile) course. He was more than six seconds faster than his closest pursuer, Washington's Andrew Padgett. 

The Cardinals' team victory was sealed roughly 42 seconds later when all five scoring runners hit the finish line among the top 15 competitors. Roger Klein placed sixth in 24:42.87 and Aron Sebhat followed in seventh in 24:47.06, while Troy Kelleher placed 11th (24:55.08) and Tim Hird completed the scoring in 15th (25:02.56). Also placing in the top 20 were David Weber in 17th (25:03.71) and Ben Dickshinski in 19th (25:06.31).

North Central next returns to competition on Saturday, Nov. 2, when it hosts the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships at St. James Farm in Warrenville. The Cardinals will be pursuing their 40th consecutive CCIW team title.