The Bruins men’s and women’s cross-country teams placed 14th and 15th respectively in their individual races at the NCCAA National Championship in Houghton, New York.

This competition, marking each team’s seventh meet of the year, saw the Bruins women and men both competing in a field of 19 runners.

Four of the women posted personal records for the 5K race. Sophomore Elena Wornom posted the fastest time for the Bruins women, coming in 46th place overall with a time of 20 minutes and 16 seconds. The next four runners to finish for the Bruins women were junior Brittany Gibson and seniors Abi Dickinson, Kaitlyn Unruh and Brooke Wells, respectively.

The Bruins men ran last, and it was senior Nathan Zakariasen who stood out among the rest, running an impressive race in the low-temperature weather. Zakariasen made his way toward the front of the group and finished 16th overall, just one spot away from attaining All-American status.

In his performance, Zakariasen set a new program record for the Bruins cross-country team, finishing in just 25 minutes and 59 seconds. He now holds the unique title of being the first Bruins runner to complete the 8K in under 26 minutes. Finishing second through fifth were junior Daniel Marinelli, sophomore Josh Rush, junior Sam Koenke and senior Josh Anderson.

Marking the end of their second collegiate season, the cross-country team will run in a few more events this coming spring, while continuing to practice for next year’s fall season.