CMS Men's Cross Country Comes in Second at SCIAC Championships

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - All five scorers for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's cross country team finished in the top 20 to earn all-league honors as the Stags earned a second-place finish at the 2023 SCIAC Championships on Saturday at the Riverside City Cross Country Course.

Oliver Pick was the top finisher for the Stags for the second season in a row, finishing in 25:05.5 to repeat as a first-team All-SCIAC selection.

CMS then had four runners cross between 11th and 20th place to capture second-team all-league distinction. Hayden Beauchemin was 11th with a time of 25:26.5, followed by Nick Taubenheim and Daniel Fajardo, who crossed back-to-back in 13th and 14th with times of 25:31.6 and 25:34.3, respectively. Adam Sage was the fifth CMS scorer in 18th place, finishing in 25:42.4 to earn his way onto the All-SCIAC list as well. 

Pomona-Pitzer earned the team title with 23 points, finishing with five of the top of the top eight. CMS was second with 61 points, with Caltech and La Verne both finishing with 103 points.

CMS also had six other top-50 finishers in a field of over 130 runners. Mason Ratkovich was 22nd with a 25:53.7, while Andrew Blelloch and Agustin Gomez de la Vega were back-to-back in 24th and 25th place in 26:02.6 and 26:04.2, respectively. Ethan Wood cracked the top 30 (30th) in his first SCIAC race, while Hale Behan was 36th and Daniel Voyles was 43rd. 

CMS will be back in action in two weeks for the NCAA West Regionals, which will also be held at the Riverside City Cross Country Course on Nov. 11.