Clinton, NY -- The Colby Men's Cross Country team finished as the runner-up at the NESCAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, beating #13 Middlebury 104-106 to take the silver medal. The Mules are currently ranked #23 in Division III, but their ranking will likely increase after beating Middlebury. #7 Williams took a convincing victory at the meet, scoring 41 points.

Hamilton College hosted this championship meet for the first time since 2010, but were able to provide an excellently-groomed course in the rolling hills of central New York. All 11 teams in the NESCAC competed at this meet, and in addition to beating Middlebury, the Mules defeated several other nationally-ranked teams: #27 Bates, #30 Connecticut College, and #31 Tufts.

Two runners from Colby received all-NESCAC honors. Finishing 1st for Colby, and 2nd overall, was senior Tyler Morris. Morris covered the 8-kilometer (4.97-mile) course in 23:51, at a pace of 4:48 per mile. In 12th place overall was senior Ben Mellor, who ran a new best time of 24:39, a pace of 4:57 per mile. Mellor outkicked Bates rival Eli Boesch-Dining, beating the Bobcat by a narrow margin of 0.6 seconds.

In 30th and 31st place was the sophomore duo of Liam Carcich and James Boyle (25:16, 25:17). Shortly behind them, and rounding out Colby's scoring 5 was first year Chris Gould (36th, 25:24).

Senior Elias Lindgren of Williams won the overall race in a time of 23:25.

The Mules had incredibly strong performances at the NESCAC Championships this past weekend, and 11/12 they are competing in the NCAA DIII East Regional Championships at Bowdoin College. The Mules will face off against #2 MIT, as well as conference rivals Bates, Tufts and Bowdoin, and dozens of other teams in the East Region.

Team Results:
1 -- Williams -- 41 pts.
2 -- Colby -- 104
3 -- Middlebury -- 106
4 -- Connecticut College -- 126
5 -- Bates -- 141
6 -- Tufts -- 142

Individual Results:
2 -- Tyler Morris -- 23:51.1
12 -- Ben Mellor -- 24:39.0
30 -- Liam Carcich -- 25:16.4
31 -- James Boyle -- 25:17.5
36 -- Chris Gould -- 25:24.0
48 -- Nick Peterson -- 25:42.6
63 -- Gordon Doore -- 25:53.7