Men's Cross Country Starts Season Strong With Fourth-Place Finish

BREA, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team opened its 2021 campaign with a strong showing at the Mark Covert Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton, which was held at Carbon Canyon Regional Park.

The Stags finished fourth overall, finishing behind only the hosts from Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, and the Master's College. CMS (95 points) also finished ahead of Loyola Marymount in fifth place (127), and were just 14 points behind Pepperdine in second place and one point behind Master's in third. 

Leading the way for the Stags was junior Henry Pick, who came in 11th place overall with a time of 25:10.8 over the 8K race. in his freshman year in 2019, Pick came in 10th at the SCIAC Championships to help CMS finish in a tie with Pomona-Pitzer and earn the league title via tiebreaker. 

Senior Kyril Van Schendel was close behind in 13th place for the Stags, crossing the line in 25:18.0. Senior Stevie Steinberg earned 21st place in 25:35.4, senior Adam Wilinson was 24th in 25:39.1, and senior Daniel Sealand was the fifth scorer for CMS in 31st place in 26:01.5.

Sealand and freshman Oliver Pick, Henry's younger brother, actually crossed the line in tandem, but Pick was technically .2 seconds behind to finish in 32nd place. Sophomore Nick Taubenheim was in 36th place in 26:06.8 to give the Stags all seven runners in the top 40 (out of 156 in the race). 

CMS will return to action in two weeks when it travels to participate in the UC Riverside Invitational.