NORTHFIELD, Minn.  – On a blazing fast day with everything on the line, the MSOE men's cross country team saw two all-region performances along with a new program best from Xander Gottner to finish eighth at the NCAA North Regional Champioship.

TEAM RESULTS
1. No. 1 Wisconsin-La Crosse – 40 points (2-3-10-11-14)
2. No. 6 Wisconsin-Whitewater – 78 points (4-5-12-22-35)
3. No. 9 St. Olaf – 87 points (7-8-20-23-29)
4. Wisconsin-Stevens Point – 158 points (15-25-34-39-45)
5. No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire – 178 points (13-28-32-52-53)

8. MSOE – 230 points (9-30-38-74-79)

TOP RUNNER
Xander Gottner – 9^th Place (24:43.2)

HOW IT HAPPENED   
Gottner stuck his nose in with the lead pack for a majority of the race and was rewarded with a ninth-place finish and a time of 24:43.2, a personal best by 15 seconds and six seconds off the old program best. Adam Shaw was next in for the Raiders for 30^th place, also finishing in all-region in 25:13.6, followed by Sam McPeak in 38^th place 25:19.5. Nolan Pinion was the fourth Raider in the chute in 74^th place running 26:06.7, while rounding out the scoring for the Raiders was AJ Springer in 79^th place in 26:13.0.

WORDS FROM GOTTNER
"I'm super proud of the boys out there, they left it all on the course today and they'll be by my side whatever happens next."

"My goal was to be top 10 today and I'm really proud to be able to do that. It's been a great season so far and I'd be really honored for it to continue"

WHAT'S NEXT
Gottner's national championship berth will come true tomorrow, November 17^th, during the NCAA Selection show at 2:00 PM. The national championship will take place next week, Saturday, November 23^rd in Terre Haute, Indiana at 12:00 PM.

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