Stevie Steinberg Wins Regional Championship for CMS Men's Cross Country, Henry Pick Finishes Second

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Stevie Steinberg and Henry Pick finished 1-2 in the NCAA Division III West Region Cross Country Championship, and all seven Stags competing earned All-Region honors, as CMS earned a second-place team finish on Saturday morning at Pomona-Pitzer Cross Country Course.

Steinberg earned the championship two weeks after he came in third at SCIACs, when Pick earned the individual title. This time around, the two teammates had a close battle to the finish line, with Steinberg winning by less than a second to earn an individual title. 

Pomona-Pitzer won the team championship with five of the top 10, and earn the region's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championships next weekend in Louisville. Under a new format this year, only the 10 regional champions earn automatics, unlike the top two finishers in years past, but at No. 5 in the country coming in, the Stags certainly clinched their berth by finishing in the top two. 

Steinberg's winning time was 24:47.3, edging out Pick's final time of 24:47.9. Pick set the course record two weeks ago at the SCIAC Championships in 24:24.7, but with hotter conditions today, times were slightly slower than they were for the conference championships.

Miles Christensen was the third CMS runner to cross the line, finishing in 25:23.9 to come in 17th place. Will Kimball (22nd), Adam Wilkinson (25th), Evan Hassman (26th) and Kyril Van Schendel (28th) all finished in close succession to each earn All-Region honors by finishing in the top 35 of 170 runners.

Pomona-Pitzer finished with a team total of 35, with CMS in second in 64, and UC Santa Cruz a distant third in 134. George Fox was fourth (152) and Lewis & Clark fifth (188). Occidental (eighth), La Verne (ninth) and Redlands (10th) represented the SCIAC in the 29-team field. 

Assuming CMS gets the expected invitation to nationals tomorrow, it will be making its 13th consecutive appearance. The Stags finished sixth last time in 2019, one position below the program record, and the team hopes to earn its highest-ever finish this time around.