The UW Oshkosh cross-country team had three runners earn the right to compete at the Division III National Championships hosted at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin on Nov. 17.

The UWO runners had the opportunity of running on their home course for the championship. Head coach Eamon McKenna said he didn’t expect too much of an edge due to the inexperienced runners competing.

“Hosting the National Championship is a slight advantage to the runners who know the course,” McKenna said. “But because of our youth, it does not give those three as big of an advantage in familiarity as it would if they were older.”

Titan runners Cody Chadwick and Lucas Weber competed for the men’s team while Evlyn Noone represented the women’s side.

There were concerns of weather before the race but Noone said that the weather does not determine the race results.

“It all boils down to whether you’re going to manifest your own race by thinking too much about something as simple as the cold weather,” Noone said. “Or throw all your worries out the window and run as hard as you can.”

The three UWO runners received at-large bids, allowing them to compete at nationals. Out of a total of 280 runners Noone placed 52nd on the women’s side posting a time of 22:09:8 in the women’s 6,000 meter race. In the men’s 8,000 meter race Chadwick placed 67th with a time of 25:22:1 and Weber placed 143rd running a 25:50:3.

Chadwick said he and Weber were caught off guard by the level of competition in their first National Championship appearance.

“With Lucas and I being so young and inexperienced, I think it definitely surprised us how quickly the national race gets out,” Chadwick said. “If I could change one thing it would be that we would have got out a little harder to avoid all the pushing and shoving that comes with being in back with a huge pack of runners.”

Reflecting on the season, Chadwick said the most memorable part of the season was the culture of the UWO cross-country team.

“My favorite part is just the day-to-day camaraderie,” Chadwick said. “Obviously, the sense of individual accomplishment is awesome, but being around the team everyday, whether it is the games we play before practice, the long trips to meets or those tough workouts we put ourselves through.”

The champion for the women’s race was Paige Lawler of Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) posting a time of 20:55.0, while the men’s winner was Dhruvil Patel of North Central College (Ill.), who won the race with a time of 24:24:05.

In only their second year on the team, Chadwick and Webber each had multiple top-ten finishes in previous races this season.

At the Titan Classic and the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational, Webber placed second at both events and Chadwick finished in fourth and sixth respectively. Another notable performance was Chadwick’s eighth place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship.

Noone was the only woman to represent the Titans at nationals after placing eighth at the Midwest Regionals the previous weekend.

Noone concluded the season with five top-ten finishes, second place at the Titan Classic, sixth at the WIAC Championship, seventh at the UW-Parkside Vic Godfrey Open and an eighth-place finish at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational.

Mckenna said he is thrilled for the future and acknowledged Noone as a bright spot for the team.

“I’m very excited about the direction of the program,” Mckenna said. “Although Evlyn [Noone] is in her fourth year of college, she is still in her first year as a cross-country student-athlete. It is great to see so many younger runners contributing early in their career.”