Recap by Director of Athletic Communications Luke Tracy 

JOPLIN, MO (11/18/2023) – For the second year in a row and third time in program history, the Franklin Pierce men's cross-country team competed at the NCAA Division II National Championships, this year hosted by Missouri Southern State University.

The men's division included 34 institutions from across the country with a total of 261 runners who lined up for the 10k race. The Franklin Pierce men's program earned 33^rd place overall, a one-place jump from 2022 when the team competed at the NCAA Division II Championships in Seattle, Washington. The only other school from the Northeast and Northeast-10 Conference to compete at the race was Southern Connecticut State University which placed one spot above Franklin Pierce in 32^nd. Wingate University took home the National Championship trophy with a combined team time of 2:29:06 which was a single-second faster than the second-place team, Colorado School of Mines.

FPU junior runner Wondu Summa (Burlington, V.T.) was the team's top finisher in Joplin after he grabbed 87^th place with a final time of 30:59.7 (4:59.3/mile). Individual results for the team can be found below:

Full results of the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championships can be found here.