Third-year Tom Haxton earned All-America honors at the 2002 NCAA Division III men’s cross country championship Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, placing sixth a field of 215 runners.
Haxton, who placed 29th in the meet a year ago, covered the 8K course in a time of 25:24 to finish 23 seconds behind the winner of the meet, Trinity College senior Ryan Bak, whose time of 25:01 was enough to easily beat second-place finisher UW-Platteville junior Ryan Kleimenhagen’s 25:08. Bates College senior Justin Easter finished third in 25:20, followed by University of Puget Sound junior Dan McLean in 25:21, and UW-Oshkosh junior David Cisewski, who rounded out the top five in 25:22.
Third-year Patrick Sullivan also competed in the event, placing 140th with a time of 26:48. After placing 16th at the Midwest regional meet in 25:07 to earn the final individual qualifying position, Sullivan came up short of expectations. He was not available for comment.
UW-Oshkosh won the team title, going away with only 66 points to second-place finisher Calvin College’s 122 points. Chicago’s North Central College was third with 146 points and Nebraska Wesleyan University rounded out the top four, scoring 146 points.
