2012 Men's Cross Country

2012 Men's Cross Country

The North Central College men's cross country team stood atop the podium at the NCAA Division III National Championships for the second straight year in 2012, persevering past the 32-team field at the meet held at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
 
The meet announcer stated that North Central sat in fifth place after the 7,000-meter mark of the 8,000-meter course, but the Cardinals were able to outlast the field picking off runners one by one during the final thousand meters, in route to the 15th National Men's Cross Country Championship in program history.
 
“We really pulled it out in the last quarter mile,” said head coach Al Carius.  “We knew we had to build as the race went on because it was a tougher course than it appears.  We waited until the last second to pull it out, but fortunately that's the way the season has gone.”
 
North Central tallied 167 total team points in the standings while Calvin College (Mich.) and Haverford College (Pa.) tied for second-place, each amassing 188 points.  The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse ended the day just two points back in fourth with 190 team points and Washington University (Mo.) rounded out the top-five compiling 226 total points.
 
Junior John Crain paced the Cardinals with a sixth-place finish, earning his first All-America accolade, crossing the tape in a time of 24 minutes, 43.50 seconds. Daniel Kerley was the next Cardinal to cross the finish line, as the senior ended his career with a 14th-place finish in a time of 24:48.50, also earning his first All-America certificate.
 
Roger Klein finished the course in a time of 25:12.20, good for 44th-place whileYonatan Mascote finished close behind in 50th-place, crossing the tape in 25:17.40 and Tim Hird rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals finishing in 121st-place, with a time of 25:50.40.
 
“We knew the course was going to be tough, so the two things we preached today were patience and confidence,” said Crain.  “The first loop we wanted to be patient and the second lap we wanted confidence to finish off and stay strong through the whole race.  That's how we've been racing this year and somehow we finished it out with determination.”