WAVERLY, Iowa – The Gustavus men’s cross country team took seventh out of 28 teams at the NCAA Central Region Championships on Saturday, hosted by Wartburg College. Wartburg won the meet, Carleton took second, and St. Olaf placed third.
As he has done all season, Andrew Stumbo (Jr., Boone, Iowa) led the Gusties with a ninth place finish, crossing the line in 25:50.3 to earn All-Region honors. Garet Grant (So., Winona) had a high-quality finish as well, taking 14th in 26:01.9 to earn All-Region. Stumbo is not an automatic qualifier for the NCAA meet but has a high probability of earning a spot. Grant’s probability of receiving an invitation to the national meet is not as high, but not out of the question.
“Coming off track last year we knew Garet was up there with Stumbo and this year he just needed to believe that he belongs up there,” Head Coach Brenden Huber said. “The conference meet was a great confidence booster. Stumbo and Garet were 40th at the mile today and to finish where they did is a testament to their hard work. The puzzle was trying to get both of them into the national meet and that will be an awesome thing if it happens.”
Ben Wicklund (So., Marine on St. Croix) took 51st in 26:46.3, Noah Johnson (So., Stillwater) placed 74th in 27:14.7, and Jeremy Gilbertson (Jr., Maple Grove) rounded out the scoring in 82nd place at 27:24.8.
Matthew Wilkinson of Carleton won the race in 24:56.8
“It was weird today because we got out to a hot start and we tend to be a second half racing team,” Huber said. “We made up a lot of ground but not enough. We were 14th overall at the mile and ran out of real estate to make up enough ground. It was a lot fun to watch them compete and move up a couple spots from last year.”
The NCAA Championships are Nov. 23 in Louisville, Ky.