Men's Cross Country

UW-Whitewater’s Patzka and UW-La Crosse’s Stanley Claim Top USTFCCCA National Awards

Official USTFCCCA Release

NEW ORLEANS--University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Christian Patzka has been named the National Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, while UW-La Crosse’s Derek Stanley has been tabbed the National Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the 2024 season.
 
Patzka secured the individual national title at the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. He posted a time of 24:01.6 on the 8,000-meter course, more than two seconds faster than the rest of the field. Patzka is the first Warhawk to win the national championship and first in program history to secure the USTFCCCA honor. Earlier in the season, Patzka took top individual honors at the Augustana (Ill.) Interregional Invitational and posted three runner-up finishes.
 
Stanley led the Eagles to the fourth NCAA championship in program archives this year, winning the title by 96 points. Four runners were among the top-20 finishers, paced by Grant Matthai in second and Aidan Matthai in fifth place. Stanley is the third UW-La Crosse coach to receive the award, joining Phil Esten (1996) and Don Fritsch (2001 and 2005). Earlier in the season, UW-La Crosse won team titles at the NCAA Division III North Region Championship, Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, Luther vs UW-La Crosse Dual, Drews-Neubauer Invitational, Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational and the John McNichols Invitational.
 
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