MADISON, Wisc. - The IUPUI men's cross country team put up a sensational effort to cap the 2023 cross country season on Friday (Nov. 10), finishing eighth of 30 teams at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by Wisconsin. The eighth-place finish matched the Jags' best finish in program history, also achieved back in 2015. IUPUI came into the meet ranked No. 13 in the Great Lakes Region, but ousted a bevy of schools ranked higher and avenged a loss to Youngstown State from the Horizon League Championships. 

Senior Nate Kaiser paved the way, placing 31st of 211 runners, using an aggressive start to fuel his school record 30:28.2 effort. Behind him, Andrew Whitinger was 50th in a time of 30:57.4 as the duo became the third and fourth in program history to eclipse 31 minutes for a 10,000m race. 

Kaiser breezed past Robert Murphy's school record time of 30:47.3 by more than 19 seconds. His 31st place finish was the third-highest in IUPUI history, trailing Murphy's 17th place in 2016 and Tom Ohlman's 29th place effort in 2014. 

"We got out hard in great position and the guys said that was the most painful race of their life," head coach Justin Roeder said. "I'm very proud of their grit after the conference results."

Kaiser was among the top-20 early in the race and never truly trailed off while Whitinger took a slightly more conservative approach, picking off opponents over the final 2K. 

"We came in ranked 13th in the regional and tied our highest place ever," Kaiser said. "The boys gave it their all today and I couldn't be prouder to represent IUPUI. God is good."

"It was a great day for the Jags!" Whitinger said. "Although we were bummed to miss out on the conference title, we bounced back so well to be the top mid-major school and tie for the highest finish in program history. Everyone raced with heart and left everything on the course. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this team's success and I'm really proud of what we've accomplished this year."

As expected, IUPUI's depth came in critical at the biggest moment as Eric Petersen was 64th at 31:11.7 and Grant Moon and Mitchell Rans went Nos. 69 and 70. Moon finished at 31:16.8 and Rans crossed at 31:18.9. 

Nick Perkins, an All-Horizon League performer two weeks ago, was IUPUI's No. 6 runner in a time of 31:25.7 to finish 80th and Matt Mitsch was 90th at 31:38.6. 

IUPUI was the top non-Power 5 finisher at the regionals, trailing Indiana by just two points and beating YSU by 27 points. The Jaguars also avenged an earlier loss to Ohio State, easily clearing the Buckeyes by 156 points on Friday. 

No. 12 Butler earned the team win while host Wisconsin was second with 70 points. Wisconsin's Bob Liking earned the individual tape in a time of 29:40.9, edging teammate Jackson Sharp by less than a second.