Facing rain and temperatures that slid into the thirties, men’s cross country grabbed fifth place in last Friday’s 23-team Division III Pre-Nationals.

MIAC rival St. Olaf took first place in the eight-kilometer meet, while No. 3 UW-La Crosse and MIT finished second and third, respectively. Macalester followed No. 7 Nebraska Wesleyan in the meet standings.

Bo Rydze ’05 led the Scots, finishing tenth out of the 216 runners. He covered the 4.97-mile course in 26:03, a 5:14-per-mile pace. Roscoe Sopiwnik ’06 and Dylan Keith ’07 finished in 26:23 and 26:25, respectively, good enough for 20th and 23rd places. Eric Olson ’05 and Jordan Selbo ’06 took the last two scoring spots for the Mac Pack.

Though Rydze said he ran a tactically smart race by drafting, which means running close behind a runner to save energy on a windy day, he was disappointed with his finish. “I ended up being too conservative in the closing minutes of the race, and as a result I fell from sixth to tenth place,” Rydze said.

Keith had a more positive reaction to his race. “I started a little fast, but I was able to hold my own and still finish in the top 25,” he said. “Our ability to perform well in such adverse conditions shows how we can capitalize on the toll it takes on other teams.”

The meet followed a two-week break from competition. Several members of the team said the extra week off left them mentally refreshed and ready to race.

“Taking at least one weekend off allows some free time on the weekend to catch up with the things we’ve been ignoring,” Keith said. “It also allows us to put in some hard training without worrying about our performance the following weekend.”

The Pre-National meet was another look at competition for the conference meet on Oct. 30. The team’s goals included beating both St. Thomas and St. Olaf. St. Olaf put together an exceptional race, but the Scots were able to defeat St. Thomas, something Rydze said hadn’t happened in many years.

The next stop for the Mac Pack is tomorrow’s Dan Huston Invitational at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.