Richard Klein running gravel path of St. James Farm
Steve Woltmann Photography

Men's Cross Country

North Central Delivers Strong Showing at Augustana Interregional

Contact: Taiah Gallisath-Poklop, Associate Director of Athletics Communications, 630-637-5302

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Oct. 17, 2026) – Competing against one of the nation's strongest fields this weekend, the No. 11-ranked North Central College men's cross country team made a statement at the Augustana Interregional Invitational Saturday, finishing second among many nationally ranked programs in the meet's Gold race.

Top-ranked Wartburg College won the Gold race with 64 points while North Central finished second with 107 points. Fourth-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse finished third (121) with No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis (141) and No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (150) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Other ranked teams making up the meet's top-10 were No. 17 Central College (sixth), No. 7 University of Chicago (seventh), and No. 20 Hope College (eighth).

North Central put together an impressive run in the Gold race, with five Cardinals recording personal best or season best times. 

BJ Sorg and Daniel Kasperan quickly separated themselves, sitting in the top-six as the race came through the one-mile marker and holding those positions through the halfway point. In the final 2.5K, Kasperan took the Cardinal lead with Sorg on his heels in fifth and sixth respectively. 

The pair kicked it up a notch in the final stretch as both moved up three positions to finish in the top three. Kasperan's career best time of 23:51.3, his first time breaking the 24 minute barrier, was good for a runner-up finish while Sorg also recorded a personal best by seven seconds in 23:52.0 to finish third. 

Richard Klein also had a standout day, moving up 22 spots between the first and second checkpoints. Klein made his way into the top-20 in the homestretch to finish 16th overall in a career best time of 24:38.6. 

Another personal best performance came from Rylan Deichen who shaved over 20 seconds off his career best to come in at 24:53.5 to finish 35th. Jack Galminas closed out the Cardinals' scorers finishing 54th in a time of 25:06.7.

In the Blue race, North Central finished sixth with 220 points. Wartburg also won the Blue race with a perfect score of 15 while UW-La Crosse was second (69) and UChicago was third (98).

Kyle Bryant led the way for the Cardinals with a personal best effort, finishing 30th in 25:49.8. Aaron Ramos also notched a personal best time of 26:20.7 as the Cardinals No. 2 runner in 60th place. David Hornaday was not far behind finishing in 63rd place with a career best time of 26:21.9. Logan Kessling (26:35.4) and Carter Simmons (26:43.8) rounded out the Cardinals scorers in 83rd and 104th. Both recorded personal best times. 

North Central shifts its attention to championship season with the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships up first on Saturday, Oct. 31 at St. James Farm in Warrenville, Ill.
 
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Players Mentioned

Rylan Deichen

Rylan Deichen

Junior
Jack Galminas

Jack Galminas

Sophomore
David Hornaday

David Hornaday

Sophomore
Daniel Kasperan

Daniel Kasperan

Sophomore
Logan Kessling

Logan Kessling

Sophomore
Richard Klein

Richard Klein

Junior
Aaron Ramos

Aaron Ramos

Fifth Year
Carter Simmons

Carter Simmons

Sophomore
BJ Sorg

BJ Sorg

Senior
Kyle Bryant

Kyle Bryant

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Rylan Deichen

Rylan Deichen

Junior
Jack Galminas

Jack Galminas

Sophomore
David Hornaday

David Hornaday

Sophomore
Daniel Kasperan

Daniel Kasperan

Sophomore
Logan Kessling

Logan Kessling

Sophomore
Richard Klein

Richard Klein

Junior
Aaron Ramos

Aaron Ramos

Fifth Year
Carter Simmons

Carter Simmons

Sophomore
BJ Sorg

BJ Sorg

Senior
Kyle Bryant

Kyle Bryant

Freshman