Men's Cross Country Notes - NAIA Championships Preview

COMING UP: at NAIA Cross Country National Championships, Seminole Valley Cross Country Course (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Friday, 11:30 a.m. (CST)
 
LIVE LINKS: No Live Video will be available from the NAIA National Championships; however, Live Results will be posted following the race via the NAIA's Meet Manager.
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Coyotes earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships for the first time in program history, by virtue of their Cascade Conference Championships title. C of I is among 22 automatic qualifiers through their affiliated conferences (Columbia (Mo.), Montreat (N.C.), Haskell (Kan.), Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), C of I, St. Francis (Ill.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), Indiana Wesleyan, Lewis-Clark State, The Master's (Calif.), Dordt (Iowa), Xavier (La.), Benedictine (Kan.), St. Mary (Kan.), West Virginia Tech, Shawnee State (Ohio), Dakota State (S.D.), Our Lake of the Lake (Texas), Oklahoma City, Bethel (Tenn.), SCAD-Savannah (Ga.), Aquinas (Mich.)); 13 at-large teams (Southern Oregon, Cornerstone (Mich.), Westmont (Calif.), Eastern Oregon, Taylor (Ind.), Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Northwest Christian (Ore.), Madonna (Mich.), UC-Merced, Oregon Tech, Campbellsville (Ky.), Milligan (Tenn.), Siena Heights (Mich.)) and host Mount Mercy (Iowa). The lowest number of place-points from their first five finishers will be crowned NAIA national champion.
 
ABOUT THE COURSE: Seminole Valley opened in the fall of 2015 and features a mixture of mowed turf, low mow fields and wetland areas along the Cedar River just outside Cedar Rapids. Fans who make the trip will be charged a $10 parking fee for the event.
 
MEN'S HISTORY AT NATIONALS: The Coyotes make their 13th trip to the NAIA Championships, including every season since 2007. C of I has recorded four Top-10 finishes, taking fourth in 2016, seventh in 2015 and tenth in both 2009 and 2017, with five student-athletes earning All-America honors – Billy Godfrey, Dominic Bolin, Max Hampton, Alex Martin and four-time All-American Greg Montgomery.
 
C OF I RANKED NO. 3: C of I heads into the NAIA Championships ranked No. 3 in the final NAIA Top-25 poll of the regular-season – the highest ranking in program history. The Yotes received 529 voter points from the 20 conference raters, along with two first-place votes. C of I had been ranked No. 4 on five previous occasions – including at the conclusion of the 2016 season. The Cascade Conference had more teams in the Top-25 than any other league – as No. 5 Southern Oregon, No. 13 Eastern Oregon, No. 20 Northwest Christian and No. 25 Oregon Tech joined the Yotes.
 
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS, SIX ALL-CCC PICKS: A dominant performance by the Coyotes earned the team their first-ever CCC title, blitzing the competition in Sammamish, Wash. C of I had all five of their scoring runners in the Top-10, finishing with 26 place-points – well ahead of Southern Oregon (42) and Eastern Oregon (85). Marcos Cervantes joined Greg Montgomery as the only CCC champions in program history – recording a personal-best time of 24:59 over the 8,000-meter distance. Teammate Alex Martin placed third, Cole Campbell finished fifth, Bryce Odegard was seventh, Collin Tracy was tenth and Andrew Sutton took 11th – all earning All-CCC honors, the first time since 2015 that a CCC team had six all-conference recipients.
 
HONORS FOR CERVANTES, BASTERRECHEA: For his efforts, Marcos Cervantes was named CCC Runner of the Year and was also honored as USTFCCCA Western Region Runner of the Year, with Austin Basterrechea named CCC Coach of the Year and named the USTFCCCA Western Region Coach of the Year.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the C of I men's cross country team, visit the Homepage of the Coyotes.