WILLIAMS LEADS OXY AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, TIGERS FINISH 27TH

WINNECONE, Wis. — Freshman Cole Williams (San Francisco, CA) ran his best 8k of the season and the Occidental College men's cross country team finished 27^th at the NCAA Division III national championship on Saturday.

Williams, who has been the Tigers No. 3 all year, surprised everyone when he passed up fellow freshman Colin Smith (Las Vegas, NV) and four-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual champion Eric Kleinsasser (Glendale, CA) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club with a time of 25 minutes and 17.49 seconds. He was the fifth freshman to cross the line and the 99th finisher overall.

"It says a lot about him and his future and it says a lot about his mental approach and confidence," Occidental cross country coach Rob Bartlett said. "There are things you can't coach. … He's got certainly got talent, but he's also got mental toughness."

North Central (Ill.), the team that has been atop the national rankings since the preseason poll, won the team competition and Lee Berube from SUNY Geneseo was the individual winner with a time of 23:49.60.

Kleinsasser crossed the line second for Oxy and 126th overall (25:26.97). Smith was the eighth best freshman, completing the 4.96-mile course in 25:30.45. Freshman Louis Jochems (Albuquerque, NM) was the Tigers' fourth best with a personal record of 25:58.35.

In a small moral victory, Oxy beat Colorado College—the team it split the NCAA Division III West Region Championship with after the two teams tied at Pomona-Pitzer on Nov. 12—and SCIAC rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Colorado College finished 28^th and CMS 29^th.

Oxy's three rookies getting some reps on the biggest stage bodes well for the future of the Tigers' program.

"It was a great ending to a fantastic season. And to have three freshman make the trip and see what it's all about is invaluable," Bartlett said. "It's just impossible to describe what nationals is like if you haven't been there. You've just got to come and see, then you know what to expect."

The 27^th finish is not what Oxy had hoped for after winning the SCIAC championship and its first regional title since 1991, but the No. 24 Tigers' year ends with three seniors passing the baton to a talented crop of younger runners after one of the best Oxy cross country seasons in recent memory.

"That's exciting obviously for the future," Bartlett said. "For the three seniors to have their season end with a conference championship, a regional championship and a trip to the national championship I think is kind of a storybook ending to their careers."