EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The IUPUI men's cross country team put a capper on an already impressive 2021 campaign on Friday (Nov. 12) as the Jaguars finished tenth of 30 teams at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet at the Angel Mounds Cross Country Course. It marked the third top-10 finish in the cross country program's history and first since placing eighth in 2015. Head coach Chuck Koeppen's team entered the meet ranked No. 10 in the latest regional polls and lived up to the advance billing. 

"I'm really proud of our young men. They continue to represent our program and our university incredibly well," Koeppen said. "This is a really tough regional with some really good runners and our guys fought and hung right in there with them. I thought maybe we could finish a spot or two higher if we really had a great day, but I'm proud of us getting tenth. Our pack really hung in there and worked together and that's what our strength is. 

"We've got a lot of guys who really like one another and like to work hard for one another and that makes all the difference in the world in this sport."

The Jaguars' depth was evidenced as the nine teams ahead of them all had a top-20 finisher whereas IUPUI's top runner was 50th. 

Nate Kaiser led the Jaguars' deep pack by placing 50th overall of 205 runners, covering the 10K course in a time of 31:04.8. His time was the fourth-quickest 10K in program history and fastest by an IUPUI runner since 2014. After finsihing fourth at the Horizon League Championships, Kaiser was the top Horizon League finisher at the Great Lakes Regional, which featured eight league schools.

Behind him, Alex Ratkovich finished 54th overall at 31:10.1 for the fifth-best time in program history and Mitchell Gits finished just off his pace at 31:12.0. 

Nick Perkins placed 66th overall at 31:15.5 and Eric Petersen was just off their pace at 31:31.7, placing 74th. Freshman Grant Moon spun a time of 31:59.7 and Eric Hoffman finished at 32:18.5. 

"Our team worked together well. We sat behind the top pack and helped each other out," Kaiser said. "I'm proud of our effort and looking forward to next cross season. Our team has a great thing going."

IUPUI had just 13 performances in program history under 32 minutes prior to the race and added six more on Friday. 

Notre Dame breezed to the team title with 37 points and was followed by Wisconsin (87), Michigan (106), Michigan State (110) and Butler (116) in the top five. Butler's Simon Bedard overtook teammate Barry Keane in the homestretch to for the individual tape in a time of 29:50.0.