OBERLIN, Ohio – Marcos Maciel enjoyed a historic race on Saturday, headlining another impressive set of times for the Ursinus College men's cross country team at the Oberlin College Inter-Regional Rumble.
Maciel made the most of the journey to Ohio, knocking 50 seconds off his previous personal record and coming in 76th overall with at 25:55.3, which marked the best time by an Ursinus runner in the Centennial Conference era. Maciel edged the time of 25:56.6 posted by James McDaid at last year's Inter-Regional Rumble hosted by Rowan.
McDaid was close behind with a 26:04.5 (86th overall), and the Bears' third through fifth finishers all logged new personal bests. Ed Martinez edged his former record by about 15 seconds with a 26:36.6, while John DeLia and Kyle Berardi each shattered theirs. DeLia's 26:43.2 was more than a minute faster than his previous best, and Berardi shaved nearly 50 seconds off his with a 26:53.5.
In the process, the Bears logged a top-five average time of 26:26, a program record since joining the Centennial. It also helped Ursinus to land in 24th in the team standings, ahead of a number of ranked squads from other regions in a stacked race that included a host of nationally ranked programs.
Steve Wilkins was next across the line at 27:16.2, and Daniel Powell posted a new PR with a 27:33.4.
Colin McCarty (27:44.8), Jesse Wun (28:00.9), and Payton Stanziani (28:58.2) rounded out the Bears' varsity contingent, with Brandon Slaboda (29:45.8), Dylan Simms (29:47.0), who put up a new PR, and Nate Raffier (31:50.4) competing in the open race.
Saturday marked the final tune-up for the Centennial Conference championship, set for November 2 at Gettysburg.