TERRA HAUTE, Ind.—Lewis & Clark men's cross country sophomore Evan Markelz made his NCAA Championship debut on Saturday morning at the 2024 NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championship. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Markelz returned to the LaVern Gibson Cross Country National Championship Cross Country Course for the second time in two months, after racing at NCAA Pre-Nationals in early October. 
 
The sophomore steadily worked his way through the field to finish 138^th overall. 
 
Markelz sat in 180^th out of 294 runners after the opening kilometer. He moved up to 144^th after 2K and reached 137^th place at the midway point of the race (4K). The sophomore dipped to 142^nd at the 5K mark but pushed up to 134^th place after 5.6K. Markelz reached a high-water mark of 129^th place with 1.5K to go (6.5K mark). He crossed the finish line in 25:25.3 to finish 138^th overall. 
 
"It was a hard effort and I couldn't stay in the race mentally," Markelz said. "This entire trip though has been such a memorable experience and I look forward to returning to the D3 Championship as a team in the next couple of years."
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Markelz finished second out of three Northwest Conference individual runners. Ben Kerr (University of Puget Sound) placed 123^rd and Alex Peters (Whitworth University) finished in 243^rd.  
• Markelz is the sixth Pioneer men's runner to make his NCAA Cross Country debut in the past decade. His 138^th place finish is fourth-best among the group behind Liam Monheim (113^th in 2016), Sean Richardson (129^th in 2019) and Max Aldrich (135^th in 2022). 
• Markelz extended a streak of five consecutive years that Lewis & Clark has had a runner make their NCAA Cross Country debut. 
• Christian Patzka of Wisconsin-Whitewater won the individual title (24:01.6) and Wisconsin-La Crosse took home the team title (77 points). 
• In two cross country seasons, Markelz has been named to the All-Region and All-NWC team twice and made his Nationals debut. He also owns the program record 8K time (24:08.4). 
• Pioneers alum Miles Voenell ('24) competed at Nationals for Rowan University where he is attending graduate school. He placed 254th in 26:15.4. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will begin track & field season on December 7 when a small contingent of runners travels to Boston for the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. As for the men's cross country team, Markelz will lead a group that expects to return 15 of their 17 runners, including nine of the 10 runners who competed at the NWC Championship Meet.