UW-La Crosse Wins NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship; UW-Whitewater’s Patzka Claims Individual Crown

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse claimed the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship that was held at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on Nov. 23. In addition, UW-Whitewater’s Christian Patzka secured the individual title.

The national championship is the fourth in program history (1996, 2001, 2005) and ninth captured by a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) program. Since the 1982-83 academic year, WIAC institutions have combined to win a total of 128 NCAA Division III team championships.

Patzka is the first national champion in UW-Whitewater archives. The WIAC has had a runner post a first-place national finish nine times. He topped the field of 294 runners with a time of 24:01.6 on the 8,000-meter course.

UW-La Crosse compiled 77 team points to surpass the second-place total of 173 points by Wartburg College (Iowa). Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.) finished third with 182 points, UW-Whitewater fourth with 219 and New York University fifth with 220. UW-Whitewater’s fourth-place finish is the best in program history.

Additional WIAC team finishes included: UW-Stevens Point placed 16th with 473 points and UW-Eau Claire 19th with 514. A total of 32 teams participated in the national championship that was hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Patzka was joined by seven WIAC runners in earned All-America accolades from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. UW-La Crosse’s Grant Matthai finished third in 24:04.4, UW-La Crosse’s Aidan Matthai fifth in 24:11.8, UW-Whitewater’s Gunner Schlender 12th in 24:22.1, UW-La Crosse Joey Sullivan 16th in 24:26.7, UW-La Crosse’s Jayden Zywicki 20th in 24:31.6, UW-Whitewater’s Dan Anderson 22nd in 24:32.9 and UW-Eau Claire’s Mason Shea 39th in 24:44.7.

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