Coming back to the same course that troubled the group of now seniors back in 2015, the North Central College men's cross country team came to take care of unfinished business on Nov. 17, 2018 at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country National Championship at Lake Breeze Golf Course and left the course as national champions for the 19th time in program history with the added bonus of the program's first individual national champion since 2000.

The race started out as bad déjà vu from 2015 for many teams as the field of 280 runners was called back following a fall that took down a group of runners less than 100 yards from the start. Upon the restart, North Central came out hard to lead the pack once again and never looked back, maintaining a solid racing plan that put all seven runners near the front and in perfect position.

Dhruvil Patel and Al Baldonado worked together during much of the race in the lead pack with Zach Hird, Chris Buechner, and Matt Osmulski staying on the heels of Washington University's (Mo.) Brad Hodkinson who had won the regional race a week prior. But the Cardinals' composure and mature racing proved too much for any challenger as Patel took the lead following a hard move past Hodkinson with 1,000-meters to go in the 8,000-meter race and crossed the finish line with ease to win the individual title with a time of 24:24.5. Much to his surprise, Baldonado was right behind him to finish second (24:29.7) and Buechner, racing in his first national championship, was coming down the stretch in eighth (24:41.2).

Osmulski finished next in 11th with a time of 24:44.5, followed by Hird in 33rd (24:55.5). Nolan McKenna added a 68th place finish in his first national championship race and Matt Norvell placed 88th overall (25:30.9).

Patel, Baldonado, Buechner, Osmulski and Hird earned All-America honors and helped the Cardinals score a dominating 43 points to win the national title. Washington was the runner up with 110 points, followed by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in third with 127 points.

"It feels great," said Patel on returning to Winneconne and winning the national championship. "I wouldn't be able to do this without my teammates, coaches, family and friends. It's been a long process from freshman year to here. In 2015, we didn't perform as well as we knew we could. Year after year, we kept thinking about this race. We were confident but we didn't flaunt it."

The victory was a special moment for head coach Al Carius and despite having won 18 other team national championships during his tenure, the history behind this one and the team that accomplished it hold a special place in his heart.

 "I think it was a very serendipitous experience and very fitting that this young group of guys who helped restart the program back in 2015 when we got fifth," said Carius. "They were disappointed that day but I was so proud of them to step up and accomplish what they did. For them to come back and finish today on the same course with a national championship, again, it's very fitting and I am so proud of them. That's a great way to finish their senior year."

The team's victory marks the 37th team national title for all North Central teams and 133rd individual champion among all sports. The last time the Cardinals celebrated an individual champion in cross country was Tim McCoskey '01 in 2000.