LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- Moravian College senior Gregory Jaindl finished in 88th place out of 279 runners at the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country National Championships hosted by Spalding University at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday morning.
Jaindl recorded a time of 25.23.5 on the 8,000-meter course, which had become muddy and slick after rain both Friday and during the race. The time is also the tenth fastest in school history. Jaindl was in 39th after the first 1,000-meters, and he was in 49th place at the midway point of the course.
"Going into the race we thought Patrick Watson would have a chance to win the meet, which he did, and knowing Greg was within 25 seconds of him at Regionals gave us confidence Greg could be in contention for top 40 and All American honors," stated Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jesse Baumann. "We went in with that plan, get out well the first 10 seconds since it was a really muddy course that'd be tough to appreciably move on mid-race. Through 4k he stayed in a perfect spot within 10 spots and a few seconds of All-American. We discussed that's all he could do and if he felt well today, he'd be able to take advantage of it, of not he at least set himself up. As it turns out, after 4k he didn't feel as strong as last week and wasn't able to keep contact with the top 50. With that said he still held on well for a top 90 finish and a really good time in some pretty awful course conditions.
"Overall it was an awesome season for him. We would have liked to cap it off with All-American, but there was nothing more he could have done. There are hundreds of runners vying for that spot today and he finished in the top third so we can leave Kentucky happy," finished Baumann.
The meet was Jaindl's first trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships and his third appearance in an NCAA championship during his career. He finishes the cross country portion of his senior year, and Jaindl completes his career with eight of the top 18 times in school history for an 8,000-meter race.
