CMS Men's Cross Country Takes Fourth Place at Coyote Challenge

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd Scripps men's cross country team placed four runners in the top 20 as it earned a fourth-place finish, and first among Division III schools, at the Coyote Challenge, hosted by CSU San Bernardino on Saturday morning.

Cal Poly Pomona took the team title with 42 points, followed by CSU San Marcos with 57 and UC San Diego in third with 78. The Stags were fourth with 86 points, before a big dropoff to fifth, where SCIAC rival Redlands finished with 146 points. 

Freshman Miles Christensen was the top Stag finisher for the second week in a row, coming in ninth with a time of 25:30.8 over the 8K race. Classmate Kyril Van Schendel was close behind in 12th place with a 25:34.7, while sophomore Stevie Steinberg was the third Stag across the line in 25:42.5, placing him 16th (15th among collegiate competitors). Senior Ben Iten was also in the top 20 with a 19th place finish in 25:55.3. 

The fifth scorer for the Stags was freshman Thomas Fleming (pictured), who was the first to cross the line in a pack of four Stags, coming in 30th place with a 26:29.1. Right behind him was sophomore Evan Hassman with a 26:30.5, freshman Alexander Hirsch with a 26:31.1 and senior Charlie Harris with a 26:31.6 as four CMS runners crossed the line in a span of 2.5 seconds. 

CMS also had several other runners who finished in the top half of the 107-runner field. Sophomore William Kimball was 38th with a 26:43.9, junior Wilson Ives was 42nd with a 26:55.2, and junior Brooks MacDonald was also in the top 50 with a 27:15.8 to come in 48th. Freshman Garrick Jensen (52nd) and senior Colin Adams (54th) were also in the top half of the field. 

CMS will be back in action next Saturday when it travels to take part in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.