Ian LaMere wins cross country national title

WINNECONNE, Wis. - UW-Platteville's Ian LaMere won Saturday's NCAA Cross Country National Championship in record setting fashion. LaMere secured the individual title at Lake Breeze Golf Course, hosted by UW-Oshkosh.

After winning the WIAC title by 41 seconds and the NCAA Midwest Regional by 28 seconds, LaMere continued his aggressive racing strategy of leading early and running hard. LaMere led a trail of runners at the 1 mile mark and pulled away in the second mile. In the third mile, LaMere crossed the halfway point with a 32 second lead. LaMere continued to press and further extended his lead all the way to the finish line. 

LaMere completed the 8,000-meter course (Photo courtesy Kennan Timm) in a time of 23:36, 39 seconds ahead of the second-place time of 24:15 set by UW-Eau Claire's Josh Thorson. LaMere's time was the fastest winning time in NCAA D3 Championship history. LaMere set another record with his 39-second margin of victory, besting the old record by 10 seconds. 

LaMere is the fifth male from the Wisconsin Intercollegiat Athletic Conference to win the National title. UW-Platteville's Tyler Sigl won the cross country national championships in 2007. UW-Platteville now becomes the only school in the WIAC to have more than one male cross country national champion.

With LaMere's win earning him All-American status, UW-Platteville's male runners have now earned 17 Cross Country All-American honors since 2000, the most of any WIAC school in that time period.

UW-Eau Claire's Thorson led the Blugolds to their first national team title. UW-Eau Claire's 135 points bested William College's (Mass.) 144 points. The Blugolds are coached by former UW-Platteville Assistant Cross Country coach Dan Schwamberger. Geneseo State University (N.Y.) was third with 209 points, St. Olaf College (Minn.) fourth with 211 and defending champion North Central College (Ill.) fifth with 254.

UW-Platteville finished 27th with 599 points in the 32-team Championship. Following LaMere for the Pioneers were Jason Winchel (25:48, 155th), Dan LaCroix (25:56, 177th), Zach Lee (26:14, 223rd), Trevor Wunnicke (26:22, 238th), Walker Rynes (26:33, 250th), and Benjamin Rhode (26:33, 255th).

The UW-Platteville Cross Country team would like to thank family, alumni, and friends for their outstanding showing of support at this year's NCAA Championships.