FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Complete Results

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Nov. 13, 2010)-- All seven runners finished in the top 25 as the North Central College men's cross country team secured its third straight NCAA Division III Midwest Regional title on Saturday at the Saukie Golf Course, outdistancing runner-up University of Wisconsin-Platteville by a 49-point margin.

The top-ranked Cardinals scored 37 points to secure their 23rd regional title with 10th-ranked UW-Platteville second with 86 points. Eighth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was third with a score of 114, followed by seventh-ranked Washington University in Saint Louis (122 points) and 14th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (173 points).

Michael Spain claimed his second straight individual title at the Midwest Regional, finishing the 8,000-meter race in 24:06.4, four seconds ahead of runner-up Jason Garvens of UW-Platteville. Spain led throughout and held a commanding eight-second advantage with 2,000-meters remaining. The senior becomes the first Cardinal since Colin Young in 1998 and 1999 to win back-to-back individual titles at the regional meet.

Neal Klein (24:16.2) and Matt Perez (24:21.1) finished back-to-back in fifth and sixth places, respectively while Nathan Warstler was the squad's fourth finisher among the top 10, crossing the tape in 24:26.7, good for ninth place. Matt Brinkmeier placed 16th in 24:37.1 to round out the scoring top five while Timothy Hird (24:39.3) and Dan Kerley (24:43.0) finished 18th and 24th to round out the Cardinal contingent.

North Central returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 20, making the trip to Waverly, Iowa for the NCAA Division III National Championships where the squad will look to claim its second straight national title and 14th overall. The men's race is slated to get underway at 11 a.m. at the Max Cross Country Course.