UW Oshkosh’s Amelia Lehman and Steven Potter ran in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, finishing 47th and 113th respectively, at Forest Acres Golf Course in Lansing Michigan on Nov. 19.

Potter, a senior, said running in the national meet was a big goal of his before the season began.

“Making it to nationals after never making it to the state cross country meet in high school was a cool experience,” he said.

Lehman, who qualified individually for the national meet after a 12th place finish in the North Regional meet, finished the women’s 6K race with a time of 22:49.9.

Potter, who also qualified individually for the national meet after a 12th place finish in the North Regional, finished the men’s 8k with a time of 26.10.2.

“I ran strong for the first two miles of the 5-mile race but ran into some hip pain around 5K and fell off the top 40 pack,” Potter said. I came in 113th place which is the best I’ve done at a cross country national meet.”

Johns Hopkins University took home first place in the women’s championship with 144 points followed by the University of Chicago and Wartburg College. WIAC foes UW-La Crosse and UW Stevens point placed 17th and 31st, respectively.

On the men’s side, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished first with 182 points, followed by Wartburg and Genesco University. All three WIAC schools that qualified for the meet finished in the top-25, with UW-La Crosse finishing eighth, UW-Whitewater finishing 10th and UW-Stout finishing 23rd.

Potter, who ran on a snow-covered course in 9-degree weather, said this season was one of his best.

“I’m glad I was able to come back for another year here and help this team and prove to myself that I could get to nationals in cross country,” he said.

“Making it as a team last year to Louisville was a really fun experience,” Potter said. “I wish we could have made it back again together, but I’m glad about how the team performed throughout the season.”