Lange led Huskies with 81st place finish
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The No. 22 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men’s cross country team concluded the fall season with a 23rd-place team finish (596 points) at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships hosted at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course on a muddy and rainy Saturday morning in the Golden State.
No. 2 ranked Colorado School of Mines (63 points) won the team race, knocking off No. 1 Wingate (66 points) in a tight-knit battle for the team title as No. 4 ranked Adams State took bronze with 113 points.
Quotable
“When I think about our season, I’m very pleased with what we accomplished. This year was about returning to this stage, gaining experience, growing and building momentum for the future. We absolutely accomplished these things and have much to be proud of,” Tech cross country head coach Robert Young said. “Finishing right about where we were ranked coming in is nothing to be sad about. As coaches and athletes, we wanted just a little more and felt we were capable of finishing a little higher, but it wasn’t our day to do that.
“These guys gave everything they had today and fought really well for the full 10k. At this level, every place and every second matters, so if anyone is a bit off the scoring impact gets magnified compared to most meets. A couple of slightly better days and we are in the mid-teens as a team. I’m proud of this group and will miss the veteran presence of Sam and Tucker next year, but we will be back. I’m proud of where we are and am confident the best is yet to come.”
“The team was a bit dissatisfied with their finish. In a big field like this, the bad days get amplified in our team score, because the field is so strong. I think despite not having the perfect day that we wanted like regionals, our men have shown composure and maturity as they put themselves in position to run well,” assistant coach Luke Moore added. “Today was just not our day. Notable races were run by Michael and Sawyer. They both had solid days and Sawyers’ race was particularly impressive because he was the alternate going in.”
The Men of Michigan Tech held the 25th spot in the team standings through 5.4k and moved up to as high as 22nd in the field at the 7.8k mark before falling back one spot 1k later and ultimately finishing 23rd-place overall.
Senior Sam Lange finished his career as a Husky leading the charge for the Black & Gold in averaging 5:02 per mile for a time of 31:12, working his way down from 133rd at the 2k marker down to 81st-place.
JUCO transfer Michael Dennis, in his first Division II Championship race, started in 197th at the 1k split and picked off runners all the way to the finish line where he placed 111th in 31:27.4.
Colman Lenci, Callen Carrier and Sawyer Fowler rounded out the Huskies top five, earning valuable championship racing experience in the process. Lenci moved up five spots over the final 400m to claim 135th overall, clocking 31:41. Carrier moved up five spots in the same distance for a time of 31:57.3 as Fowler, making his 10k cross country debut, placed 192nd in 32:30.4.
Veteran Tucker Ringhand (32:37.7) and freshman Zeb Swager (33:38.6) rounded out Michigan Tech’s finishers, placing 200th and 242nd, respectively.
