Wabash faced eight other ranked Division III cross country teams in what the Little Giants plan to be an early preview of the national championship meet at Saturday's AAE Invitational at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
The Little Giants, ranked 11th in the latest US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association listings, finished ninth out of 45 teams overall and fifth among the nationally-ranked DIII programs.
Nick Boyce topped the Wabash finishing list by taking 46th place with a time of 25:30, his best effort of the season.
Billy McManus trailed Boyce by one second, grabbing 50th place (25:31).
Mason McKinney finished 55th, crossing the line in 25:37 for his best 8,000-meter time of year.
Adam Togami turned in his best effort over 8,000-meters by matching McKinney's time to finish 55th.
Fabian House was the last Little Giant to figure into the team scoring, finishing 72nd with a season-best time of 25:48.
Jared Burris finished 74 (25:49), while
Colin Rinne took 119th place (26:13). Burris' time was his best of the year.
The Little Giants finished with a total of 280 points and an overall gap time of 18 seconds from the first to fifth finisher. North Central College, the number-one ranked team in the DIII listings, won with a total of 36 points. UW-Eau Claire, ranked third, took third place with 140 points. Other finishes for DIII programs included MIT taking 7th place (238 points), Washington University-St. Louis capturing eighth place (258), UW-Oshkosh taking 10th (288), and UW-Stout finishing 11th (323). Regional foe Calvin College finished 12th (332).
Wabash will spend the next two weeks training before competing November 1 at the 2014 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships. The Little Giants won last year's men's title for the second time in three seasons. Wabash captured its first NCAC cross country crown in 2011. Denison University will serve as the host school for the 2014 championship race, with the men's race beginning at 11 a.m. at Infirmary Mound Park in Granville, Ohio.
Results
