CMS Men's Cross Country Takes Ninth at Cougar Challenge

SAN MARCOS, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team, traveling without the runners who will attend the Paul Short Run in Pennsylvania this week, still managed to finish ninth out of 17 teams at the Cougar Challenge, hosted by CSU San Marcos on Saturday.

The Stags held out some of their top runners to prepare for Friday's trip, including reigning SCIAC Athlete of the Year Henry Pick, and reigning SCIAC Athlete of the Week Miles Christensen, among others. The group who attended competed well, led by Kai Gundlach, who finished 53rd (out of 206 runners) with a time of 25:57.7.

Agustin Gomez de la Vega was the second finisher for CMS in 26:03.4, coming in 58th, and he was quickly followed by Hale Behan in 62nd (26:06.2). Declan O'Neill was the fourth Stag across the line in 75th place (26:27.6). 

The final scorer for CMS was Noah Battaglia in 26:45.8, edging out teammate Vibhu Krishnan, as they both finished in the top half of the field (93rd and 94th). Mihira Sogal also had a top 100 finish in 98th in 26:52.2. 

After the Stag contingent attends the Paul Short Run on Friday, the full team will be back in action in two weeks for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Oct. 8, the program's lone appearance in Claremont this fall (the SCIAC Championships will be held at Prado Park).