FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Results

WAVERLY, Iowa (Nov. 20, 2010)-- The North Central College men's cross country squad tallied its third consecutive top two finish at the NCAA Division III National Championships, finishing runner-up after four Cardinals earned All-American accolades on Saturday at Wartburg College's Max Cross Country Course.

The Cardinals scored 104 points in the team standings for the runner-up finish, Haverford College (Pa.) captured the team National Title, scoring 87 points while also claiming the top individual finisher as Anders Hulleberg traversed the 8,000-meter course in 24:22.2. Rounding out the top five in the team standings was Saint Lawrence University in third (137 points), University of Wisconsin-Platteville in fourth (198 points) and Dickinson College (Pa.) in fifth with 204 points.

"Basically we had two guys from our top 15 returning and how this team developed over the course of the year was a coach's dream. I couldn't be prouder how these guys stepped up and filled the gaps in such a short time," said head coach Al Carius.

Michael Spain closed out his cross country career with a third place finish, clocking a 24:24.6 to pace the Cardinals and earn his third All-America certificate. The senior finished second in 2009 and was 12th in 2008.

"It was a tough fight out there for all the team's. It was fun to be a part of," said Spain. "We said we didn't want to leave anything out on the course and we didn't. It was a good team race for us. The good thing is most of these guys will be back next year for us."

Despite losing a shoe a half-mile into the race, Neal Klein was the next Cardinal finisher, clocking a 24:40.2 to place 14th and earn All-American honors. It was the junior's highest ever finish at the national meet and his second All-American honor. Klein placed 19th in 2009 and was 36th in 2008.

"Having Spain and Klein is like having an extra coach. They've both been in the program, they give security to everybody else and they give leadership to everybody else. They have great composure. Neal Klein lost his shoe a half-mile into the race yet went on to run as well as he did, now that's composure and that's being mentally tough," said Carius.

Matt Perez made his debut at nationals with a 26th place finish, clocking a 24:48.4 while Nathan Warstler capped off his career with a 35th place finish (24:54.3), earning All-American honors for the first time in his career.

"College was a lot different than I thought but I made it hard on myself and as soon as I figured it out, things really started clicking for me," said Warstler.  "It was a good way to close it out and has been one of the greatest experiences in my life, one that I will never forget."

Matt Brinkmeier rounded out the Cardinals' top five, placing 54nd in 25:11.1 while Dan Kerley (25:18.9) and Tim Hird (25:29.9) finished 74th and 109th, respectively.

Saturday's finish marked the third straight top two finish for the Cardinals. North Central was second in 2008 before winning its 13th cross country national title in 2009. Since the formation of the Division III Championships in 1973, North Central has recorded 32 top three finishes.