Grinnell College battled Lawrence University to an exciting finish in the men’s portion of the 2011 Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships at Ripon, Wis., on Saturday.
But in the end, Lawrence eked out a 51-53 victory over the Pioneers to snap the latter’s 14-year title streak at the meet.
Grinnell had four runners earn all-conference honors, led by Ben Tyler’s ’14 runner-up finish. Tyler (pictured) ran the 8-kilometer race in 25:16.19 to tie for the 10th-best clocking in Pioneer history.
He was just 7 seconds behind the champion, Sam Stevens of Lawrence.
Erik Figge ’13 added a third-place finish for Grinnell in 25:24.91, 17th-best in program history. Other all-conference performers were Sam Krauth ’14, who was 11th in 26:08.99, and Frank Canady ’14, 15th in 26:18.63. Krauth jumped into the school’s all-time top 50 with his clocking.
Figge has now been all-conference three times, while Tyler, Krauth and Canady have accomplished the feat twice.
Harry Maher ’15 rounded out Grinnell’s scorers, placing 22nd in 26:36.04. Others in the mix were Nate Kakazu ’13, 25th place in 26:45.88, and Evan Griffith ’15, who was 27th in 26:52.28.
The Pioneers will compete in the NCAA Division III Regional Meet on Nov. 12 in Waverly.
