Coming off a strong finish from last season, the men’s cross country team looks to start where they have left off.

The team finished fourth in the conference, seventh out of 39 teams in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, and at one point was ranked No. 10 nationally in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

The team failed to qualify for nationals, but had two runners qualify individually, junior Aron Kehoe and senior David Schneekloth. The duo finished 44th and 47th respectively, with times of 25:06.2 and 25:08.7.

The team’s depth will suffer this season after losing several experienced runners, but will add seven freshmen to its roster this year.
The Warhawks have four solid runners returning this season, in seniors Joe Dixon, Ben Knapp, Dan Machmueller, and Mathias Werve.

“We had a great season last year, but we lost a lot of guys,” coach Jeff Miller said. “We have four strong runners coming back this year, and a good freshmen class coming in as well.”

Miller knows the competition is tough in the conference, but in order to make it to nationals they must perform well no matter what.

“If we were in any other conference we probably would have qualified for nationals last season,” Miller said. “That just shows how good our team was, but if some of the younger guys step up we can make another run.”

The team will open the season with the Warhawk Invitational at 11:45 a.m. Sept. 17. The event will be held at UW-Whitewater on the campus course.