WINTHROP, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Men's Cross Country team traveled to Winthrop, Minnesota for the 8K UMAC Championship race on Saturday afternoon. In the preseason poll, Northwestern was picked to finish fourth in the UMAC, but the Eagles saw 4 PR's in the race, and finished 3^rd overall as a team.
 
Senior Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) led the Eagles and finished 8^th overall. Weddle was awarded First Team All-UMAC and beat his career best time by 22 seconds, finishing with a time of 27:19. Weddle set his previous record at the 2023 UMAC Championships. With Weddle's new personal record, he becomes the 24^th fastest runner in Northwestern history.
 
The second runner for Northwestern, recording a personal record that was 44 seconds faster than his previous record, was Bennett Selfridge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian). Selfridge received Second Team All-UMAC for his performance and finished with a time of 28:09 as he crossed the finish line in 12^th place.
 
Owen Van de Riet also bested his fasted time, which he ran at last year's UMAC Championship race, by 43 seconds. Van de Riet's new record time of 29:13 placed him 24^th in the meet. On his heels came teammate, Nate Moser (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian). Moser finished 26^th overall with a time of 29:21. Joshua Ringsmuth (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) followed closely, crossing the finish line at 29:58.
 
The final runner, Peter Kephart (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern), notched a time of 30:13. His time beat his lifetime record by 54 seconds. Kephart's previous time was run in the Championship race last year as well.
 
Due to the hard work of all these runners, the Men's Cross Country Team qualified for the NCCAA National Championship, which will be held on November 15th in Indiana.