Saturday, Nov. 22 at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside will mark the grand finale of what has been a triumphant season for the Aquinas men’s cross country team, ranked third in the nation. They will battle for the prized possession that every collegiate sports team strives to achieve — a national championship.

The Saints secured their birth to Nationals after winning the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference title on Saturday, Nov. 28 at Riverside Park, beating out rival and then ranked second in the nation Indiana Tech. Twelve of Aquinas’ runners finished in the top 25 of 63 competitors to bring home their seventh-consecutive WHAC title and earn their ninth-consecutive trip to Nationals.

Not only did the Saints add yet another conference championship trophy to the display case, but they also now have the conference’s number one runner competing on their team. Senior Chris Leikert ran his best race of the season, finishing the 8K run in 25:38, earning the title of WHAC individual cross country champion. Leikert reflected on his accomplishment.

“It is nice to get first place in the meet because I have worked hard to be my best, but it’s just a bonus,” said Leikert. “The real reward is winning the meet as a team. Everyone else worked just as hard all summer and fall, and to have it pay off is the best reward we could ask for.”

Junior Rob Veldman trailed only seconds behind Leikert with an impressive second place finish of 25:41. The Saint’s success so far this season has also resulted in head coach Michael Wojciakowski being honored as the WHAC Coach of the Year.

The team knows that Nationals will be a fierce battle between Indiana Tech, Azusa Pacific and Malone College, who will be their most challenging competition. According to Leikert, however, these big name schools are not what the team should be focused on.

“Our biggest competition is ourselves,” said Leikert. “We are just going to run our race, stick to our plan, and beat as many runners as possible. If we do that, we won’t have to be worried about other teams.”

With their consistent success over the years and this season in particular, it can be all too easy to consider the men’s cross country team’s recent victories as no big deal – something that is simply expected year after year.

According to Nate Poirier, however, who will be running at Nationals for the first time this season due to injuries the past two years, winning a national championship is not something that can be achieved by not only one team, but rather, “it is the result of building teams for roughly ten years.”

“Winning Nationals would be a tribute to all those that came before us,” said Poirier.

The time is coming near for the women’s cross country team to pay that tribute as well. After finishing second at the WHAC Championship meet, it is quite clear that the women’s team will soon be earning their chance to run at nationals as a team.

Their second place finish in conference was unfortunately not enough to earn them a bid to Nationals this season, though three runners on the team who placed in the top ten earned individuals bids. These runners are Senior Amanda Strouse, and sophomores Katy Cramer and Alicia Boynton. Strouse finished the 5k race with a time of 18:45, with Cramer securing an eighth place finish and Boynton at ninth.

The Saints’ solid finish consisted of ten girls completing the race in the top 25. Chelsea Bonney reflected on her freshman season: “The experience of running at the college level has been amazing and I’m so excited to watch some of our girls compete at Nationals and be there to support them.”