The Wabash cross country team raced to an eighth-place finish Saturday at the NCAA Division III Men's Championships the team's best result since 1995.
The Little Giants were competing at the DIII nationals for the sixth consecutive season and 16h time overall. Saturday's effort marked the fourth time a Wabash squad finished in the top-ten, the first since the Little Giants placed third in 1995.  
"We had a very solid race," Wabash head cross country coach Colin Young said. "Our spread was only 24 seconds. All in all it was a successful day. Like every team there were a couple of guys who could have been a few places higher, but overall it was a great experience. The guys are happy. They finished healthy and had a great overall season."
 
Adam Togami scored 39 points as the top finished for the Little Giants, crossing the line in 25:11.20 to place 51^st out of a field of 278 runners including individuals not competing in the team scoring. Colin Rinne tallied 40 points with his 52^nd-place finish at 25:11.80. Fabian House, competing for the last time in cross country for Wabash along with fellow senior Togami, placed 66^th and scored 51 points by finishing in 25:19.00.
 
Mason McKinney was the next Wabash runner to complete the 8,000-meter circuit, finishing with a time of 25:33.60 to score 78 points with a 106^th-place finish. Dominic Patacsil completed the scoring for Wabash by tallying 84 points. He crossed the finish line in 25:35.10 to place 114^th.
 
Cordell Lewis placed 189^th with a time of 26:27.40. Luke Doughty finished in 27:24.10 for 218^th place.
 
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire captured the team title with a score of 135 points, followed by Williams (144), Geneseo State (209), St. Olaf (211), North Central (254), Pomona-Pitzer (276), and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (290). Wabash scored a total of 292 points for its eighth-place spot, with UW-La Crosse (300), and Amherst (303) completing the top-ten team finishes.
 
UW-Platteville's Ian LeMere blistered the course with an individual winning time of 23:35.40.
 
Prior to Saturday's competition, Coach Young received the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Great Lakes Regional Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year Award. Young guided the Little Giants to the regional title in his first season at the helm of the program.