DULUTH, Minn. – The College of St. Scholastica Men's Cross Country team is coming off a 1-2 finish in the opening 5km meet last week at St. Olaf, CSS's Calvin Boone (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Highland Park HS) and Lars Dewall (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) faced their neighbors on College Street and NCAA Division II, the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, in the Bulldog's home meet, with perhaps an eye on upending the hosts, at least for the individual win.

For the bulk of the 6km race, the Saints duo sat in a lead scrum of six, with four other Bulldogs.  By the final kilometer, the Saints nearly had the Bulldogs where they wanted them, having whittled the pack down to a single UMD challenger in Austin Antony. 

Antony opened the season last week at the University of Minnesota's Oz Memorial as the Bulldog's third runner, so Antony was a slight surprise to the Saints duo to be the last 'Dog standing.

Boone, who is known for a finishing kick, appeared to retake control with 300 meters to go, bridging a surge from 600 meters out by Antony—a move that broke Dewall from a chance at the win.  But Boone was shocked by Antony a second time in the closing meters, having no answer for the Bulldog's fast-to-blistering downhill kick.  Anthony edged away for victory,  winning in 18:13.5, two seconds ahead of Boone in 18:15.5, for his first collegiate cross country win. Dewall remained the best of the rest, finishing third, 4.5 seconds further back of Boone in 18:21.0.

Nathan Neu (Ortonville, Minn./Ortonville HS) scored 3rd in his 2023 debut, crossing the line 19th in 20:01.9. Freshmen Ashton Niemi (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) scored in his second straight start as a Saint in 27th place with a time of 21:23.2. Junior, Derek Douglas (Escanaba, Mich./Escanaba HS) blazed the back half of the course to be the final scorer for the Saints in 28th overall in a time of 21:27.6.

The Bulldog men's depth overwhelmed the Saints, taking seven of the top ten spots in the college field, winning with 23 points to the Saints' 53.  Wisconsin Superior finished 3rd in the four-team field with 62 points.

The Saints return to action at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 16th, as they preview the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 2023 Championship course at Carleton College's Running of the Cows 8km.