HANOVER, Ind. -- Though the first NCAA Division III Cross Country championship race may not have turned out as hoped for the Whitworth men, the young Pirates had a great opportunity to learn from their experience for future trips to the national meet.

Complete results (click here).

Nick Gallagher

Nick Gallagher (So., Bedford, Iowa) finished 103rd out of 280 runners with a time of 25:37.52 in the eight kilomter race to lead Whitworth. As a team the Pirates finished 31st out of 32 with 745 points.

Aaron Jenkins (Fr., Pocatello, Idaho) was 209th in 26:17.66. Emmanuel Bofa (So., Puyallup, Wash.) was 221st (26:23.01), followed closely by Dusty Caseria (Jr., Bellingham, Wash.) in 224th place (26:24.55). Tyler Dudley (Fr., Salem, Ore.) was Whitworth's final scorer in 232nd place with a time of 26:27.05. Whitworth finished with 745 points.

The final Pirate finishers were Jamie Daroff (Sr., Clearfield, Utah) in 252nd (26:37.441) and Collin Stewart (Jr., Carbondale, Colo.) in 267th place (26:57.30).

Six of Whitworth's seven competitors will return next season.

Cortland State won the meet with 80 points. Willamette (602) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (733) finished in 27th and 30th place, respectively. Peter Kosgei of Hamilton won the race with a time of 24:22.09.