Men's Cross Country | 11/20/2025 3:59:00 PM
NCAA Division III Championships Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's cross country team is set to compete at the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships Saturday, November 22, at the Roger Milliken Cross Country Course in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The race begins at 9 a.m. (Central). Converse University (S.C.) is serving as host of the championships.
The Eagles will be represented at the NCAA III Championships by seniors
Mason Brown of
Luck (Unity),
Aidan Matthai of
Wauwatosa (East),
Grant Matthai of
Wauwatosa (East),
Joey Sullivan of
Stetsonsville (Medford) and
Jayden Zywicki of
Stoughton (H.S.) along with sophomore
Chuck Vater of
Iola (Iola-Scandinavia) and freshman
Nico Castellanos of
Madison (La Follette).
Sophomore
Owen Clark of
Arbor Vitae (Lakeland) and senior
Aidan Manning of
Verona (H.S.) are listed as alternates.
Aidan Matthai and
Grant Matthai are both running in their fourth career NCAA Division III Championships while Sullivan will be competing in his third. All three earned 2024 All-America honors with
Grant Matthai finishing third,
Aidan Matthai fifth and Sullivan 16th.
Grant Matthai was also 70th in 2022 and 63rd in 2023 with
Aidan Matthai finishing 171st in 2022 and 76th in 2023. Sullivan placed 59th in 2023.
Zywicki and Vater are appearing in their second national championships. Zywicki earned NCAA III All-America accolades with a 20th-place finish a year ago. Vater placed 69th last season.
Brown, Castellanos, Clark and Manning will be making their first career NCAA Division III Championship appearances.
UWL, making its 38th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship, has won four NCAA Division III titles (1996, 2001, 2005, 2024). The Eagles have 29 top-six finishes in school history at the national meet, including 16 in the top-three. UWL was second in 2017 and 2023.
The Eagles placed eighth in 2022, 10th in 2021 and seventh in 2019. UWL finished third in 2013, 2014 and 2018 and fourth in 2012. UWL was sixth in 2016. The 2020 championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
UWL has 19 top-10 individual finishes in school history at the NCAA III Championships, including
Grant Matthai placing third and
Aidan Matthai fifth last season.
Two runners have won the NCAA Division III individual title with
Brett Altergott in 1997 and
Ethan Gregg in 2023. Altergott also finished eighth in 1996 and Gregg was fourth in 2022.
Jim Bachelor placed second in 1986 and third in 1987 while Mike Junig was fourth in 1987. Other top-10 finishes include:
Mahdi Omar (fourth) in 1993;
Brad Wilson in 1996 (seventh) and 1997 (fourth);
Dan Peso (sixth) in 1999;
Tyler Foos (third) and
Ross Substad (seventh) in 2001;
Paul Zdroik (fifth) in 2007,
Josh Schraeder in 2018 (fourth) and 2019 (fifth) and
Tyler Nault in 2019 (eighth).
UWL earned an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships after winning the NCAA Division III North Regional November 15 in Colfax, Wisconsin. The Eagles finished with 30 team points while UW-Stevens Point was second with 110 points. A total of 31 teams competed.
All seven of UWL's runners earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region accolades with top-35 finishes. The Eagles'
Grant Matthai was second overall with a time of 24:29.4 on the 8,000-meter course with
Aidan Matthai third (24:33.2), Zywicki fourth (24:34.9) and Sullivan seventh (24:44.1). Vater finished 14th (25:16.0), Brown 15th (25:18.1) and Clark 18th (25:20.3).
In the final 2025 pre-championships poll by the USTFCCCA, UWL is ranked first in NCAA Division III. Wartburg College (Iowa) is ranked second with Johns Hopkins University (Md.) third and SUNY Geneseo fourth.
UWL head coach
Derek Stanley has led the men's squad to 10 (2012-13, 2017-19, 2021-25) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships. The Eagles have recorded top-four finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships in seven different seasons under Stanley, including last year's national title. UWL was second in 2017 and 2023.
The Eagles placed eighth in 2022, third in 2013, 2014 and 2018 and fourth in 2012. UWL finished ninth in 2015, sixth in 2016 and 10th in 2021.
He has also led the women's team to eight (2013-14, 2016, 2021-25) WIAC titles. UWL placed sixth at the 2016 NCAA Division III Championships, the team's best finish since a fourth-place showing in 2005. The Eagles finished 13th last year.
UWL was 10th in 2023, 15th in 2022 and 11th in 2021 while placing 19th in 2019 and ninth at the 2018 national meet. The Eagles were 12th in 2015, 13th in 2014, 19th in 2013, 25th in 2012 and 17th in 2017.
Stanley was an assistant men's cross country coach and assistant women's and men's track & field coach for the Eagles in 2011-12.
