CMS Men's Cross Country Picked Second in Preseason SCIAC Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team was picked to finish second in the SCIAC in the 2022 season in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, the conference office announced today.

The Stags are coming off a 2021 campaign which saw them finish sixth in the nation for the second straight year, although league rival Pomona-Pitzer finished as national champions and were picked first in the preseason poll. La Verne was picked third, followed by Occidental, Redlands, Caltech, Chapman, Cal Lutheran and Whittier. 

CMS will be led by the SCIAC Athlete of the Year, senior Henry Pick, who won the SCIAC individual title a year ago, and went on to finish third at the NCAA Division III Championships. His time at nationals broke the CMS record for an 8K race by over 40 seconds and enabled him to tie for the second-highest finish in program history, along with Thomas D'Anieri, who finished third in 2020 (David Juiliano was the runner-up in 2001). 

Although Pick returns, the Stags lost five of their top seven runners to graduation, including All-American Stevie Steinberg. Fellow seniors Kyril Van Schendel, Adam Wilkinson, Will Kimball and Evan Hassman also represented CMS at nationals. Miles Christensen, a three-time all-region winner and a SCIAC 5000 meters champion in track and field, is back for his senior season tohelp  support Pick. 

As a result, the door is open for a long list of Stags to move into the team's top seven and earn the chance to compete in the NCAA Championships. CMS also had six runners finish between 25-40 at the SCIAC Championships, who will be looking to move up the ranks into all-league territory this year: Nick Taubenheim 25th, Daniel Fajardo 26th, Oliver Pick 28th, Noah Battaglia 31st, Adam Sage 33rd, and Zachary Traul 39th. 

CMS opens its 2022 schedule at the Redlands Classic on Sept. 3, and will be in action in Claremont on Oct. 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. The SCIAC Championships will be held on Oct. 29 at Prado Park, with the NCAA Regionals taking place in Spokane, Washington on Nov. 12, and the NCAA Championships in Lansing, Michigan on Nov. 19.