STURGIS, S.D. – The Carleton College men's cross country team finished fifth at the season-opening Gage McSpadden Invite.
 
The six-kilometer team competition included Carleton plus four NCAA Division II programs (Black Hills State, Chadron State, Montana State-Billings, and South Dakota Mines), a nationally-ranked NAIA squad from Rocky Mountain College, and a trio of individual entrants from Central Wyoming College of the NJCAA.
 
Travis Brown was the top NCAA Division III finisher, taking 20th overall with a time of 19:33.7.
 
"This was his best cross country race ever to start the season," said Carleton head coach Dave Ricks. "He's been very disciplined and had a great summer of training. I'm happy that it paid off so quickly."
 
Gabe Nichols was next for Carleton, crossing the line at 19:43.7 to place 27th in the field of 83 racers. Indy Lyness finished 32nd at 19:47.7.
 
Newcomers Martin Moshfeghi and Gus Schafer rounded out the Knights' scoring by finishing at 20:05.1 and 20:12.5, respectively, to place 39th and 42nd overall.
 
"The weather was perfect with really good competition," said Ricks. "This was our baseline, and we need to progress weekly from here. I think that we learned some things today that will help us as our next race will be the full 8k distance."
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will race the Hamline Invitational at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12 in St. Paul, Minn.