No. 9 TU Gears Up for NAIA Men’s Cross Country Championship

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 9 Taylor (74-13) is set to conclude its season at the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country Championship held Friday, Nov. 22, in Columbia, Missouri.

The Trojans have one team title to their name this season, as they won the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational on Sept. 6 against a tough 22-team field. The Purple and Grey also put together the program's third fastest team time in history by clocking a 2:04:52.3 on Oct. 26 at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge.

Setting the Table
The Crossroads League features an NAIA-high five teams participating at this year's championship, including No. 7 Spring Arbor and No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan, with whom ninth-ranked Taylor has traded places inside the top-10 rankings all season.

No. 2 Milligan was crowned the national champion in 2023, though the top-ranked College of Idaho is the clear favorite heading into Friday. No. 3 The Master's and No. 4 Oklahoma City both received a first-place vote in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Rating of 2024.

For Taylor's part, this season's NAIA Nationals marks the 11th consecutive trip for Quinn White's squad, which collected the institution's first Red Banner to cap the 2020 season.

TU has seen the championship course – held for the first time in Columbia – one time, coming on Sept. 27 at the Mizzou Gans Creek Classic. There, Luke Harber, Nathan Burns, Joel Mumaw and Ryan Hanak turned in times under 25:30.0 to finish within the top 70 out of a large, 389-individual field.

Dissecting the Top Seven
Taylor's seven runners set to go on Friday are Harber, Hanak, Burns, Mumaw, Jared Stayte, Alex Ortiz and Jordan Burden. Also available at head coach Quinn White's disposal are Ethan Morgan, Bryce Noble and Zach McWatters, who have all finished among the team's top seven at least once in 2024, with Morgan boasting three top-six finishes.

Harber has established himself as TU's best runner this season with three first-place finishes on the squad, though Mumaw and Hanak have also impressed to make a formidable junior-class trio that individually earned All-Crossroads League recognition at the CL Championships on Nov. 8.

Burns is the lone past NAIA All-American for the Trojans, while Ortiz, Stayte and Burden each set their personal records at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge on Oct. 26 with times all under 25:45.0.

The Essentials
The ninth-ranked Taylor men race in the 36-team field at 11:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. CT on Friday for the 69th Annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship, held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for K-12 students, and they can be purchased online at the National Championships Visitors Guide. Ticket gates open Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT.