Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – The 81^st Midwest Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship will be held this Saturday at Reid Municipal Golf Course in Appleton, Wis. 

Championship Page

Grinnell College has dominated the Midwest Conference and has won or shared in 26 of the past 28 championships including the past two in a row.  The Pioneers’ Adam Dalton has the top time in the league so far this season and has won the conference’s Performer of the Week award three times. Last year, Dalton ran to all-conference honors last season after placing 13^th. 

Also pacing Grinnell will be returning all-conference performers Evan Griffith, Zach Angel, and Anthony McLean.  Griffith has the third-best time in the MWC so far in 2014 and finished sixth at the championships last season.  Angel and McLean are currently ranked eighth and 13^th in the league this season. 

Carroll University is aiming for its first ever league title on Saturday.  Isaac Jordan finished just outside the top-20 last season, but has the second-best time in the MWC season. Jordan also earned the MWC Performer of the Week honor after finishing fifth at the Tom Barry Invitational. Also returning for Carroll is all-conference runner Jacob Sundberg who finished 15^th in 2013.  Christopher Pynenberg and Adam Jorres are both ranked in the top-10 in the current standings and will be key contributors for the Pioneers. 

Lawrence University returns a strong set of runners and brought in a key newcomer this season.  Last year’s fourth and fifth place finishers, Kyle Dockery and Jonah Laursen are both back for the Vikings, while freshman Max Edwards has the top-time on the team this season and is ranked 10^th in the MWC.  Edwards was also named MWC Performer of the Week earlier this year after he finished second at the Gene Davis Invitational.    

Sophomore Jonathon Derry of Lake Forest College leads the Foresters into Saturday’s competition. Despite finishing 49^th at last season’s championships Derry is gunning for a spot on the all-conference team as our teammates Sintayehu Regassa and Muhammed Soeleman.  Lake Forest’s top five runners are all within the top-25 times in the league. 

St. Norbert College will be led by senior Hayden Hoffmann.  Hoffman was named the MWC Performer of the Week earlier this season after he finished 12^th at the Aurora Invitational and previously had the top time in the conference.  Freshman Alexander Maro aims to make a strong showing in his first appearance in the championship meet while classmate Andrew Lemay and Samuel Holt are on the cusp of breaking into the top-20. 

Cornell College’s Lawrence Dennis hopes to earn another all-conference medal this weekend.  Dennis finished 16^th in 2013, was named Performer of the Week earlier this season, and has the seventh-best time in the MWC this season.  Rob Waters of Ripon College rounds out the returning all-conference performers.  Waters finished 20^th in 2013, and won the Ripon Invite earlier this season.

Other top individual contenders include Beloit College’s Jacob Gray and Alberto Torres and Knox College’s Ezekiel Jere.  Cooper Pauley will lead Monmouth College into the weekend, while junior Zachary Yoggerst leads Illinois College’s contingent.  

The men's 8,000-kilometer race will begin at 11:00 a.m.