COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Two Montana Tech men's cross country juniors completed the 2024 season with finishes at the NAIA National Championships Friday morning on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

Ben Zerr set the pace for the Orediggers, finishing in 175th place in 25:37.3, and Derek Schultz took 233rd in 26:09.9.

Zerr, a junior from Kailua, Hawaii, improved on his placement from the 2023 national race by nearly 40 places and nearly a minute and a half. Tech's top runner for most of the season, he took fourth at the Frontier Conference championships to put himself in position to qualify for the national meet. Friday, Zerr ran the first half of the race in the top 100 before falling back toward the middle of the 325-man pack in the late going.

Schultz, a junior from Mountain Home, Idaho, charged in the latter half of the race, making up 13 places from the midway point on to finish 233rd.

Montana Tech's team took third at the Frontier Conference championship meet earlier in the month to close out a strong 2024 campaign.

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