CMS Men's Cross Country Finishes Sixth at Pre-Nationals

NEWVILLE, Pa. - Mason Ratkovich earned a top-20 finish in 17th place as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team ended up sixth out of 38 teams at the NCAA Division III Pre-Nationals, hosted by Dickinson.

CMS sent eight runners to the Pre-Nationals, with the other half of the team competing at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, where CMS also came in sixth. 

Ratkovich finished in 25:18.9 to come in 17th out of 377 runners. Simon Heys of Wilmington (Ohio) won the individual competition in 24:46.2. MIT took first place overall with 71 points, followed by Williams with 86, RPI with 103, Pomona-Pitzer with 138 and George Fox with 158. CMS came in sixth with 188, with Mount Union in seventh with 233 points. 

Oliver Pick came in 24th place as an individual for the Stags with a 25:27.6. Nick Taubenheim was the third Stag to cross in 25:42.3, placing 41st, with Andrew Blelloch cracking the top 59 in 49th place with a 25:47.4. Hayden Beauchemin was the fifth scorer for CMS in 57th with a 25:53.7, followed immediately by Hale Behan with a 25:54.1 in 58th. Adam Sage also cracked the top 100 with a 26:19.5, coming in 92nd. 

At the Pomona-Pitzer Inivitational, Agustin Gomez de la Vega was the top Stag in 30th place, crossing the line in 26:11.5. Ethan Wood was close behind in 34th place with a 26:21.4, while Adam Cohan, Raja Batra and Louis DeLano also scored in the top five for CMS. 

The Stags will be back in action in three weeks for the SCIAC Championships on Oct. 28 in Riverside.