UW-La Crosse Avenges Runner-up Finish From 2023; MIT Overcomes 18-point Deficit In Final Kilometer For Program's First Title; Patzka, Duncan Win First Individual Titles

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

UW-Lacrosse Photo

A year after falling a point shy of a national title, the Wisconsin-La Crosse men’s cross country team ran back to the top of the podium stand for the first time since 2005 at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at the Laverne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Led by twins Grant and Aidan Matthai finishing third and fifth, respectively, in 24 minutes, 4.4 second and 24:11.8 for the 8-kilometer race, as well as Joey Sullivan in 24:26.7 in 16th and Jayden Zywicki in 24:31.6 in 20th, the Eagles dismantled Wartburg 77-173 to claim the program’s fourth overall title behind four All-American finishers.

Adam Loenser capped the scoring for UW-La Crosse in 53rd place in 24:54, completing a 49.6 second spread between the Eagles top-five runners. Chuck Vater finished 69th in 25:00.2 and Corey Fairchild finished 117th in 25:17.7 as the team’s sixth and seventh runners.

Isaiah Hammerand and Jacob Green both came away with top 15 finishes for second-place Wartburg, with Hammerand securing ninth in 24:19.8 and Green in 15th in 24:26.1

Pomona-Pitzer, winners of three of the last five NCAA Division III cross country national titles, finished third with 182 points, with Cameron Hatler earning eighth place in 24:17.5 to finish as his team’s top honors.

Wisconsin-Whitewater recorded 219 points to take home a fourth-place trophy, led by low stick, and winner of the individual title, Christian Patzka in 24:01.6 seconds to claim his first national title. Patzka was second at the previous two Division III championships.

Mohammaed Bati of Augsburg finished second to Patzka by two seconds, clocking 24:03.7, Nathan Tassey of Roger Williams managed fourth in 24:08.9, Charles Namiot of Williams earned seventh in 24:14.7 and Emerald Svienty of North Central captured 10th in 24:20.

The MIT women complete a historic comeback and overcame an 18-point deficit to Chicago in the final kilometer to capture the program’s first national title.

Kate Sanderson and Rujuta Sane earned top 20 honors en route to the Engineers defeating the Maroons 128-138 in the end. Sanderson completed the 6-kilometer race in 21:26.2 for 16th overall and Sane clocked 21:29.9 for 19th.

Christina Crow (21:43.6, 35th), Liv Girand (21:54.2, 47th) and Lexi Fernandez (21:57.6, 51st) were a part of a 31.4-second spread between MIT’s top five scorers, and Heather Jensen (21:58.2, 54th) and Gillian Roeder (21:59.6, 55th) completed a collective 33.4-spread.

Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, the first across the finish line for the Maroons, came away with a fifth-place finish in 21:09.9.

Williams, led by Kate Tuttle in eighth place in 21:12.9, scored 155 points to finish third.

NYU finished with 177 points for fourth, with Janie Cooper earning a top-15 finish in 14th in 21:23.4.

A little over a month since winning the pre-nationals race on Oct. 3, Faith Duncan of Wilmington ran away from the field, yet again, but this time came away with an individual national title in 20:16.5. This is Duncan’s first season of cross country in college

Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge followed Duncan’s first-place finish in 20:58.2 for second place and SUNY Geneseo’s Penelope Green took third in 21:06.1.

RPI’s Jules Bleskoski earned a hard-fought fourth-place finish in 21:09.7 after holding off Battleson-Gunkel and Middlebury’s Audrey Maclean in sixth in 21:10.8.

Hannah Preisser of Carleton ran 21:12 for seventh, Olivia Warr of Washington and Lee ran 21:13.5 for ninth and Isabel Olson of Colorado College ran 21:16.8 for 10th to complete the list of top individuals.