BELOIT, Wis. – Senior Jake Bach entered an exclusive group of Cornell runners with a third-place showing at the Midwest Conference Men's Cross Country Championships, held Saturday at Beloit Country Club.
 
Bach was in a three-man battle for the individual title, covering the 8K layout in 25:14. Luther's Michel Heinrich crossed the finish line first in 25:06, and his teammate Adam Gray second in 25:11.
 
Bach secured third place for the second year in a row. He became the fourth Ram to earn consecutive top-3 all-MWC finishes since 1991, joining Isaac vanWestrienen (2023-25), Aaron Davidson (2021-22) and Mason Wicker (2017-18).
 
Cornell's Isaac Morris earned his second all-conference medal, recording a lifetime-best 8K mark of 26:09 for 12th place. The junior was 19th a year ago.
 
Senior Anthony Zamudio finished 26th (26:59), junior Jamie Briggs 39th (27:34) and senior Jaxon Barnes 40th (27:34) to round out Cornell's scoring. Sophomore Caden Edwards was 48th (27:52).
 
The Rams placed fifth in the 10-team field with 103 points. Grinnell won the title with 48 points, followed by Lawrence (60), Luther (64) and Ripon (96).
 
Elite 20 – Morris capped his memorable day as recipient of the MWC Elite 20 Award at the conclusion of Saturday's meet.
 
The award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest grade point average among participants in the sport's culminating championship event.
 
Morris is the 18th Ram to receive the MWC Elite 20 Award since its inception in 2015-16.
 
Coming up – The Rams compete at the Midwest Region Championships Nov. 14 in Rock Island, Ill.