Men's Cross Country: Nocton Earns All-America Honor at NAIA National Championships

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The 21st ranked Indiana University East men's cross country team finished 16th as the Red Wolves competed in the NAIA National Championships on Friday, Nov. 22.

Three Red Wolves surpassed the previous best placement by an IU East runner at the national meet as Mylan Nocton led the way in the 8K race with a time of 24:36.8 to finish 35th of 331 runners on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course, which put him on the NAIA All-American list that features the top 40 competitors. It was the first time an IU East runner earned the honor.

"I'm pretty excited," Mylan said. "I finally got to be an All-American like (my brother) Cameron."

Cameron Nocton is a three-time All-American in track and field. Mylan was out early with the lead pack as he focused on the job that had to be done as he was in position to be an All-American.

"You can forget what it takes to be an All-American," said Mylan, who was 109th in last year's event as an individual, which had been the top performance for the Red Wolves.

Axton Fosnaugh was next for the Red Wolves in 85th with a time of 25:04.4 and he was followed by Cameron Nocton in 105th at 25:13.2.

The other times for the Red Wolves were Richard Bower (139th, 25:25.5), Carter Walsman (240th, 26:14.3), Teagen Rodriguez (242nd, 26:15.5) and Gabe Reynolds (273rd, 26:41.3).

IU East was 14 spots better than the 30th place finish in 2022, which is the only other time the Red Wolves qualified as a team.

No. 1 College of Idaho won the 36-team event, while River States Conference Champ and 15th ranked Shawnee State University was 14th. The University of Rio Grande, ranked 14th, was 27th.

Oklahoma City University's Evert Silva won the individual championship completing the event in 23:14.0.