CMS Men's Cross Country Takes Fourth at The Master's Invitational

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - Nick Taubenheim came in 13th place and five other Stags cracked the top 50 as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team earned fourth place out of 22 teams at The Master's Invitational on Saturday.

Master's University finished in first place with 44 points, followed by Pomona-Pitzer in second with 97, Biola in third with 107, and CMS in fourth with 136. La Verne was fifth with 160.

Taubenheim ran a 24:36.7 to place 13th, which was just 2.5 seconds off his personal best set at the UC Riverside Invitational last year. Andrew Blelloch was the second Stag to cross in 24:55.6, placing him in 22nd place, and just 4.9 seconds off his PR, set at the fast track at UC Riverside last week. 

Hayden Beauchemin came in 32nd place with a time of 25:12.4, and was followed by Daniel Fajardo (25;14.9, 35th) and Ethan Wood (25:25.9, 41st) as the five CMS scorers. 

Wood's time moved him into the top 50 in CMS history, placing him 47th in the program's annals in his debut season with the Stags. Agustin Gomez de la Vega trimmed seven-tenths of a second off his personal best in 25:28.4, placing him 50th in CMS history (and 45th at the Master's Invitational). 

CMS will be back in action in two weeks when the squad will be split, competing at both the Pre-Nationals in Newville, Pennsylvania and the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational across Sixth Street.