NEWVILLE, PA. – Cortland senior Hunter Brignall (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) finished 108th out of 294 runners at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships. 
 
Brignall posted a time of 25 minutes, 46.8 seconds over the 8,000-meter course at Big Spring High School. Ethan Gregg of Wisconsin-La Crosse won the national title in 24:02.4. Brignall was the top finisher among the 12 runners in the race from the SUNYAC, including seven from Geneseo, three from Brockport and one from Oneonta. 
 
Brignall was Cortland's lone competitor at the meet as an individual qualifier after finishing fourth at last weekend's Niagara Region championship.

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Steve Patrick:

Your first national meet is almost always and experience! It's hard to prepare for what kind of a different experience it is being out there until you've done it.

We came into the race with a plan for what to do through 5k, and Hunter did an excellent job of executing it. I'm quite proud of the patience and maturity he showed. It didn't quite work out the way we hoped through the final 3k, it wasn't for a lack of effort on his part. It's also pretty noticeable that he was the top conference runner at the meet today.

Today closes out our 2023 cross country season, as we move onto indoor track and field - our first meet is only 2 weeks away!