The Emory men's cross country team closed out its 2017 season at the NCAA D-III Championships on Saturday. The event was held at the Principia College North Farm Cross Country Course in Elsah, Illinois.
The No. 29-ranked Eagles finished in the No. 25 position out of 32 teams with 579 points. No. 1-ranked North Central breezed to the championship with 57 points, well ahead of No. 3 UW-Lacrosse's 196 points. No. 11 Christopher Newport held down the No. 3 position (221 pts) while No. 8 Amherst (251 pts.) and No. 10 Washington University (269 pts.) rounded out the top five.
Senior Shane Sullivan paced the Emory pack for the fourth straight meet, covering the 8K course in a time of 25:26, placing 88th overall (58th scorer) out of 279 entries. Junior Bennett Shaw was the second Eagle runner and 137th overall (99th scorer) to appear on the board, turning in a time of 25:42. Sophomore Marty Pimentel came through with his second-best time as an Eagle, with his 25:50 ranking third among the contingent and 166th overall. Senior Max Brown (25:58) and sophomore Sam Branson (26:13) rounded out the team's scorers. Also competing for Emory was sophomore Luis Torres (26:16) and freshman Matt Dillon (26:22).
Darin Lau of UW-Eau Claire was the top individual finisher with a time of 24:03.