Men's Cross Country Ranked 30th Nationally in USTFCCCA Preseason Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team was ranked No. 30 in the nation in the preseason in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, which was released this afternoon. 

The Stags are coming off a season which saw them finish in 29th place in the NCAA Division III Championships, as well as in third in both the SCIAC and the NCAA West Region championships. CMS was in the No. 3 spot in the USTFCCCA West Region poll, which was released yesterday. 

CMS enters the new year with some holes to fill at the top of the lineup, but an experienced core returns to help fill the gap. The Stags have four of their seven runners back from the NCAA Division III championships last year, who will all hope to build on that experience and make it to the postseason awards podium this fall. 

"We are pretty much in our second year of rebuilding," said Head Coach John Goldhammer. "We lost six of our top seven two years ago, and we lost our top three from last year's nationals, two to graduation and one studying abroad. But we've been fortunate that we've had a pretty good group behind the first group that has moved up and did really well during track season. And we have a couple of really competitive freshmen, but we'll have to see about them and how they convert to college distances."

Stevie Steinberg (HMC '21) finished fourth on the Stags at last year's NCAA Division III Championships in his first collegiate season, and will be among those looking to emerge as a consistent top finisher this season. He was 25th at the NCAA West Regionals last year and 23rd at the SCIAC Championships as well. Max Denning (HMC '20) and Charlie Harris (CMC '19) went back-to back in times separated by three-tenths of a second at last year's nationals, while Adam Schulze (HMC '19) also earned his way to the NCAA Championships and will have a key role this season. 

The squad has some depth this year as well, as Ben Iten (HMC '19) had an 11th place finish at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational last year. Brooks MacDonald (HMC '20) was 30th at that event, while Gage Hornung (CMC '21) and Wilson Ives (HMC '20) earned top 50 finishes as well. 

The Stags open their 2018 season this weekend at the Nationball Classic in Santa Barbara, and will compete every Saturday for seven straight weeks before a two-week break prior to the SCIAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27. 

"We are hoping to be better than we were last year, said Goldhammer. "At least that's my hope. I think team-wise we will be, although we might not have the top stud runner that we had last year."