Men's Cross Country with the DIII Pre-Nationals Team Trophy

Men's Cross Country

Sorg Paces North Central to Team Win at DIII Pre-Nationals

SPARTANBURG, S.C. & WARRENVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 20, 2025) — The North Central College men's cross country team posted a first-place finish at the DIII Pre-Nationals race in Spartanburg, S.C. and a sixth-place finish at the Gil Dodds Invitational in Warrenville, Ill. Junior BJ Sorg claimed the individual win out east while Kyle Nofziger was the top finisher back at St. James Farm. 

The Cardinals' day kicked off at 9:15 a.m. ET in Spartanburg, racing a preview of the NCAA Division III National Championship course. 

Sorg got out ahead of the pack from the jump, and maintained a strong pace the whole way. Oscar Frontjes found himself deep in the chase pack but managed to break away midway through the race. Frontjes continued his climb, closing the gap on Sorg to about four seconds with a mile to go. Sorg clocked a 24:29.5, just three seconds shy of his season-opening time that earned him national runner of the week just two weeks ago. Frontjes posted a time of 24:33.1, a new 8k personal best for the sophomore, earning him second-place.

Aidan Armstrong and Jack Galminas ran the race together, keeping within two seconds of each other and crossing the finish line with just a tenth of a second separating them in 16th (25:26.2) and 17th (25:26.3), respectively. Freshman Richard Klein had a breakthrough race, coming in at 25:39.5 for 23rd to round out the Cardinals' top-five. 

No. 6 North Central totaled 59 points for the team win, while No. 17 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished second with 63 points and No. 18 Washington & Lee was third with 82 points.

Back at St. James Farm, North Central settled into the large group early on with University of Chicago leading the charge. By the two-mile mark, six Cardinals moved just outside the top-20.

Ari Elmayan was the lead Cardinal at the start of the second lap, before Kyle Nozfiger moved in with just over a mile left to go. The top-30 really started to stretch out through the last mile with Nofziger continuing his kick. 

Nofziger eventually finished in 33rd in 26:54.70, followed by Luke Cerwin in 38th (27:06.00), Curran Williams in 47th (27:15.10) and Ari Elmayan in 49th (27:19.90). Connor Reed and Noah Gilbert were the Cardinals' fifth and sixth runners, finishing 62nd (27:40.10) and 63rd (27:40.20), respectively.

North Central finished sixth in the Gil Dodds Invitational with 162 points. UChicago won the meet with 20 points, followed by Carthage with 93 points and Wheaton with 112 points.

The Cardinals travel to Kenosha, Wis. for the Lucian Rosa Invitational next Saturday, Sept. 27. The meet, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Parkside, will race both a championship and open race at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., respectively. 
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Players Mentioned

Aidan Armstrong

Aidan Armstrong

Senior
Luke Cerwin

Luke Cerwin

Senior
Ari Elmayan

Ari Elmayan

Sophomore
Oscar Frontjes

Oscar Frontjes

Sophomore
Noah Gilbert

Noah Gilbert

Sophomore
Richard Klein

Richard Klein

Sophomore
Kyle Nofziger

Kyle Nofziger

Senior
BJ Sorg

BJ Sorg

Junior
Jack Galminas

Jack Galminas

Freshman
Connor Reed

Connor Reed

Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Aidan Armstrong

Aidan Armstrong

Senior
Luke Cerwin

Luke Cerwin

Senior
Ari Elmayan

Ari Elmayan

Sophomore
Oscar Frontjes

Oscar Frontjes

Sophomore
Noah Gilbert

Noah Gilbert

Sophomore
Richard Klein

Richard Klein

Sophomore
Kyle Nofziger

Kyle Nofziger

Senior
BJ Sorg

BJ Sorg

Junior
Jack Galminas

Jack Galminas

Freshman
Connor Reed

Connor Reed

Sophomore