CMS Men's Cross Country Earns 15th at NCAA Division III Championships

LANSING, Mich. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team earned 15th place at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday at the Forest Akers Course in Lansing, Michigan.

Adam Sage (75th) and Henry Pick (88th) both earned top-100 finishes for CMS, while Oliver Pick, Charles Albach and Nick Taubenheim also scored in the top five for the Stags, who were running in unfamiliar conditions in the snow and cold, as the temperature at the start of the race was 24 degrees, with the wind chill making it feel like 11. 

Henry Pick moved up 13 spots over the final 1000 meters to earn a top-100 finish in 88th. He came in third last year at nationals, but wasn't able to get fully healthy in 2022 and return to last year's form, although he did have his best race of the season last week at the NCAA West Regionals where he came in second. 

Sage was in 124th place after the first mile, but moved up 50 places over the second mile, and held on to his top-75 spot the rest of the way. Oliver Pick also moved up 76 spots over the second mile to go from 203rd to 127th, and held steady from there, finishing 123rd. Albach was in 264th after the first mile, and moved up 140 spots to come in 124th, including passing 27 runners over the final 1000 meters. 

MIT took the team championship, followed by Wartburg in second and SUNY-Geneseo in third. John Carroll edged out defending champion Pomona-Pitzer for fourth place, the final trophy-winning position. Alex Phillip of John Carroll repeated as the individual champion. 

CMS graduates Henry Pick and Miles Christensen from its seven-runner contingent at nationals (Christensen was a top-10 finisher at the NCAA West Regionals), but returns five, including sophomores Sage, Oliver Pick, and Daniel Fajardo, and juniors Albach and Nick Taubenheim as it will try to earn its way back into the top 10 next fall.