TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Swarthmore College's
Cohen Manges and
Olivia Montini competed at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center on Saturday.
Manges finished in 169
th place (25:35.5) in his second straight trip to nationals. Montini ran in her third consecutive national championships and crossed the line in 203
rd place (23:01.3).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The women's race went off first and Montini established a strong pace early on, sitting in 110
th (3:16.6) through the first kilometer of the 6K event. She was four seconds behind the top-40 and All-America distinction at that point. However, the junior dropped back to 177
th over the next two kilometers then was in 195
th place at the 5K mark. Montini ran her last kilometer in 4:00.9 and placed 203
rd against a strong and fast field. However, her overall time of 23:01.3 was the best of her career at the NCAA Championships.
- In the 8K men's race, Manges got out to a slow start, sitting 287
th (2:51.5) after the opening kilometer. However, the sophomore then began to make his way through the field, moving up to 280
th at the 2K mark, 231
st at the halfway point, and 215
th after five kilometers. Manges made his big move between the second and fourth kilometers, running it in 6:42.6 to jump up 49 positions. After falling back a spot to 216
th at the 5.6K checkpoint, Manges made another strong gain to 192
nd place at the 6.5K mark. He continued his climb up the leaderboard through the finish and landed at 169
th place. Manges improved upon his time from last year's national meet by 44 seconds and came in 33 spots higher than in 2023.
