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Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 23, 2019) – Never wavering despite falling behind early in the race, the North Central College men's cross country mounted a momentous comeback at the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship, ultimately storming to a second-place team finish at "Tom" Sawyer State Park on Saturday.

Trouble loomed early for the Cardinals, who fought to maneuver a course left muddy by morning showers. Two tight turns with the majority of the 279-athlete field still bunched up left the Cardinals well outside their customary spot at the front of the race and came through the 1-kilometer mark in 23rd-place. With their work cut out for them the rest of the way, North Central responded in a big way. 

At the midway point, the Cardinals had worked their way into eighth, but it would take an even bigger surge for the team to spot on the podium—as North Central has done at ten of the previous 11 championships. Matt Osmulski worked to reel in the lead pack, while North Central's other six advanced to bring the team into fourth with just one mile remaining. 

Osmulski picked off nine more runners down the home stretch to finish in 11th with a time of 24 minutes and 42 seconds, followed by Gabe Pommier (24:54.4) in with 33rd. Nick Licari's late push landed him in 40th-place to earn All-America honors alongside Osmulski and Pommier. Alex Makrounis was next through the line in 25:10.4 for 58th, while Zach Chapman—who was 198th through 3 kilometers—capped off a remarkable comeback by passing 54 runners in the final mile to finish 85th (25:21.8).

Alec Beutel (25:28.8 ) added a 103rd-place finish, while sophomore Campbell Koch (25:37.4) took 126th, gaining valuable experience for the next two years. 

Although a battle between No. 2-ranked North Central and No. 1-ranked Williams College was anticipated, third-ranked Pomona-Pitzer took the crown with 164 points. North Central compiled 182 to take runner-up, barely edging out Williams (183 points). Tenth-ranked Washington University secured the final spot on the podium with 208 points.

Patrick Watson, a senior from Stevenson University, took the individual crown by clocking a time of 24:13.9, beating out second-place by nearly six seconds. 

For head coach Al Carius, the resilience his team displayed on the biggest stage reinforced the maturity and growth he's seen in this group all year long. 

"I told them at the beginning of the year that collective confidence would help us the most to be successful and that's a very difficult thing to get: it takes experience; it takes time; and it takes patience," said Carius. "But these guys developed that very, very rapidly through the year and pulled themselves up from where we were to get to this point and get second in the nation, which is a phenomenal accomplishment."

Saturday marked the first Nationals appearance for six of North Central's seven competitors, where a team that graduated five All-Americans last year proved they belong among the most elite teams in Division III. 

"We graduated 13 seniors including six of our top-seven, and we really had no idea what would happen this year," said Carius. "But these guys took the bull by the horns—they're like the phoenix: they came up from the ashes and have been growing all year."

Osmulski—whose leadership as the sole returner from last year's National Championship team Carius credits as making the team's second-place finish possible—says he was excited to see how his teammates responded today. 

"This team showed great perseverance by how they closed the door in the final 4-kilometers. I'm glad to see these guys get to experience this, especially the underclassmen." 

This was the 15th second-place finish in program history for North Central, who owns four of the previous six National Championships.