MILWAUKEE – After an impressive season that ended at the national championship, Xander Gottner has been named Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Gottner, a senior from Joliet, Illinois, led the team in the final four meets, including winning the NACC championship on November 2^nd in 24:59.9. He ran sub-25 minutes in the final three meets of the season, including a new school record 24:43.3 at the NCAA North Regional Championship to finish ninth and qualify for the national championship a week later. At the national championship, he led the race for the first 3,000-meters of the race, finishing 43^rd overall and just three seconds from the final All-American spot.

Gottner shared this honor last season with Concordia-Wisconsin's Timmy Brey, making this the third straight season a MSOE athlete has won this award as Patrick Lee earned the honor in 2022. The Raiders dominated all season long, opening the season with a victory at the Ken Weidt Classic and then three-straight second place finishes, all to nationally ranked teams including two who finished on the podium at the national championships. The Raiders then won the NACC championship in dominating fashion with 21 points and eleven all-conference runners. In one of the deepest regions in the country, the Raiders finished eighth overall with Gottner and Adam Shaw finishing with all-region honors.

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