NORTHFIELD, Minn. --- The No. 23-ranked Carleton College men's cross country team finished second out of 11 teams at the 2023 MIAC Cross Country Championships. Over the last six conference meets, the Knights now have four MIAC crowns, a runner-up result, and a third-place finish.
 
"I am really happy with the team effort today," said Carleton head coach Dave Ricks. "Of course, we never go into the MIAC Championships without trying to win it all, but we placed as high as we could have today."
 
Racing on its home course, Carleton finished with a final score of 65. No. 11 St. Olaf won the championships with a total score of 34. St. Scholastica finished third with a score of 114, and Saint John's came in fourth with 120.
 
Carleton's top three finishers were sophomores Gabe Nichols, Roy Llewellyn, and Indy Lyness. All three earned All-MIAC status. Nichols placed fifth with a time of 24:50.9. Llewellyn crossed the line in 12th place with a time of 25:26.3, and Lyness crossed the finish line almost immediately after him in 13th place with a time of 25:26.3.
 
"Gabe had a great first MIAC meet, running right in the thick of things with the top runners in the conference," said Ricks. "Roy earned a second All-MIAC honor to join (2023 individual champion) Mohammed Bati of Augsburg as the only two sophomores in the conference with two All-MIAC finishes. Indy had a breakout race today, improving from 45th last year to 13th place this time."
 
Seniors Chris Melville and Henry Bowman rounded out the scoring for Carleton, and in the process earned All-MIAC honorable mention.
 
Melville crossed the finish line at 25:40.7 to secure 17th place overall, while Bowman was 22nd at 25:48.4. Coming off an injury that threatened to keep him out of this meet, Melville turned in an exceptional race and improved upon his 41st place result from a year ago. 
 
Ryan Bernstein was Carleton's sixth runner, finishing 50th on Saturday, an improvement from 101st last year. Josh Meier was Carleton's seventh man today, finishing 71st overall after covering the 8-kilometer distance with a time of 27:25.8.
 
"This team has some great personalities on it. They bring the coaching staff entertainment on a daily basis, and it was great to see them put that emotion into their races today on their own home course.  A great way to end the regular season."
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will run in the NCAA North Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 11. That competition will be held at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis.