Men's Cross Country Finishes a Strong Fifth at UC Riverside Invitational

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team was the top Division III finisher, coming in fifth place overall out of 24 teams, on Saturday morning at the UC Riverside Invitational.

The Stags finished one spot ahead of Pomona-Pitzer in what will be the first of many close battles between the neighboring programs this season. The two teams finished tied for first at the NCAA West Regionals a year ago, and this time CMS had 124 points, compared to 165 for the Sagehens. Scholarship programs from Cal Poly, Cal Baptist, UC Santa Barbara and Utah Valley finished in the 1-4 spots, with Cal Poly winning with 43 points. 

Leading the way for CMS was sophomore Kyril Van Schendel, who came in 10th place overall (out of 203 runners), including eighth among college competitors with a final time of 24:36.82. Nick Randazzo of Division I UC Santa Barbara won the race in 24:01.85, while Cal Poly, Utah Valley and Southern Utah accounted for the other six college runners ahead of Van Schendel.  

Senior Thomas D'Anieri had his second straight strong showing after missing last year while studying abroad, coming in 20th place in 24:48.02, followed closely by junior Stevie Steinberg in 24th place in 24:55.14. Sophomore Miles Christensen came in 41st place in 25:07.19, while junior Will Kimball was the fifth scorer for CMS in 47th place overall, earning 42 points. 

CMS also had three other runners place in the top 100, with sophomore Adam Wilkinson earning a 65th place finish. Senior Wilson Ives coming in two spots behind him in 67th, and first-year Henry Pick was 79th. 

The Stags will be back in action next weekend when they head to CSU San Bernardino for the Coyote Challenge.