The men’s cross country team placed a disappointing fourth at Saturday’s MIAC meet, frustrating a team that had hopes for a championship.

Strong gusts, light rain, and a muddy course did not stop St. Olaf, which persevered to win the 11-team meet with 43 points. Olaf runners Kelly Fulton and Malcolm Richards finished first and second overall, and two more Oles were in the top 15. Carleton placed second in the meet, which was held at Como Golf Course in St. Paul.

Two points separated Macalester from third-place St. Thomas and the team was four points ahead of fifth-place Hamline.

“We placed the same as last year, and I think I can say we are not and should not be satisfied,” Dylan Keith ’07 said.

“We could have won the meet and should have been in the top ten with three individuals,” Eric Olson ’05 said. “The numbers and statistics all show that we should have ran faster, but we didn’t, as a team.”

Bo Rydze ’05 and Roscoe Sopiwnik ’06 were both All-MIAC racers, placing 13th and 14th respectively in the 184-runner field. Keith was 23rd, with a time of 27:58 on the eight-kilometer course. Olson ’05 and Matt Wegmann ’08 were the fourth and fifth Macalester runners.

According to Haugen, the Scots’ performance had a few bright spots. He said that the men’s team had not had two all-conference runners since 1994. He also said he was also pleased with Wegmann and Nate Crider ’08, who were the ninth and tenth freshmen overall in the race.

Though finishing times were slow, the Mac Pack had the lowest spread (the time between the first and fifth runner) in the field, another encouraging statistic. Macalester was also one of only three schools in the meet with four runners in the top 25.

The team now shifts its focus to the regional meet next weekend in Waverly, Iowa. Unless the team qualifies for the NCAA Division III nationals or individuals qualify, the regional meet marks the end of the season.

“This year’s training focus has been on regionals,” Sopiwnik said. “We have pushed back some key workouts to ensure a later peak, so we are still fine-tuning our taper and are looking for a stronger regional campaign.”

The team hopes to qualify at least one individual for the national meet, Haugen said.

Olson said the MIAC meet left the Mac Pack eager to prove itself at regionals, where the team will face tough competition from Iowa as well as from St. Olaf, Carleton, and other MIAC rivals.

“As seniors, we only have one meet left to prove what we believe we can do,” Olson said. “That should be enough to give us a ticket to nationals.”