CEDAR RAPIDS – Cornell's Isaac vanWestrienen threw his arms in the air as he crossed the finish line with no other competitors in sight. The race clock behind him read 23:57.
 
The senior extraordinaire put an exclamation mark on his second consecutive Midwest Conference men's cross country title, recording the fastest 8K time in MWC Championships history Saturday at Seminole Valley Park.  
 
VanWestrienen broke the previous MWC record of 24:05, set by Carleton's Dale Kramer in 1977. The MWC Championships have been contested at the 8K distance since 1974.
 
VanWestrienen equaled his personal-best mark and scored a convincing 31-second victory over Lance Miller of Knox. Miller was a distant runner-up to vanWestrienen for the second year in a row.
 
VanWestrienen became the fifth Ram in program history to win back-to-back conference titles, joining Aaron Davidson (2021-22), Andrew Tobben (2009-10), Tony Every (1989-90) and Bill Dressel (1961-62).
 
The Rams have now crowned 13 MWC individual champions, including four in the past five years.
 
Cornell sophomore transfer Jake Bach impressed in his MWC debut, placing third in the 111-man field in 24:34. He was 20 seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher.  
 
Sophomore Isaac Morris also earned all-conference status for the first time. He finished 19th with a huge personal record of 26:18.
 
Cornell, the 2024 men's team champion, finished a solid third with 95 points. Lawrence won the team title with 34 points, followed by Grinnell with 62.
 
The Rams had five other runners finish in the top half of the field. Tony Zamudio took 37th (27:13), Jaxon Barnes 43rd (27:27), Caden Edwards 47th (27:31), Carson Krogman 52nd (27:43) and Caleb Long 54th (27:47).
 
Coming up – The Rams will send a select group of runners to Luther's Saga Cup Friday in Decorah. The Midwest Region Championships are Nov. 15 in Waverly.