Terre Haute, Indiana. - Calvin Boone (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Highland Park HS) entered the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championship as only the third Saints runner in history to qualify three times, and the first male to do so in program history.  He capped off his remarkable collegiate cross-country career Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana, finishing 136th place in the field of 294 runners.

How It Happened
The pace was hot from the start with familiar North Regional and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference names setting the early pace.  As expected, North and MIAC runners would ultimately emerge to the front and race it out among themselves for the national individual title.  

With a kilometer remaining, Augsberg's Mohammed Bati made the move that would ultimately decide the race.  His pace increase caught out Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champion, Aidan Matthai of Wisconsin La Crosse, but twin brother Grant Matthai joined two-time consecutive runner-up in this event, Christian Patzka of Wisconsin Whitewater, to give Bati a challenge in the final thousand meters for the win.

Into the final turn with roughly a half-kilometer straightaway to the finish line, Bati appeared to be on his way to his first NCAA Division III title after failing to advance out of the NCAA North Regional in 2023 and finishing well back in the 2022 NCAA Championship in a snowy, windy, cold championship race in 2022. Bati held roughly a twenty-meter gap between Patzka and Grant Matthai, right on Patkza's shoulder, as they charged for the line through a roaring crowd. 

It was Patzka's closing kick that ultimately proved to be too much for Bati.  Patzka triumphantly crossed the line first in 24:01.9, earning himself his first NCAA Division III cross-country national title, after coming up the bride's made the past two years.   

Bati hung on to finish second in 24:03.7, edging hard-charging Grant Matthai by just .7 seconds back in 3rd place and a time of 24:04.2, leading the pre-race-favorite Eagles of Wisconsin La Crosse to that national title they lost to Pomona Pitzer in 2023 by the narrowest of margins a year ago. Matthai's twin brother Aidan put four North Regional runners in the top five individually by crossing the line fifth.  La Crosse put four of their five scorers in the top forty on the way to winning the team title by 96 points over Wartburg.
Boone jumped into the fast pace out of necessity, and checked in at the first of eight kilometers in 70th place, just four seconds out of the lead.  That would be as close as he'd get to the front of the pack over the 8km course, as the blistering early pace required him to adjust his pace slower, dropping to as low as 167th place at the 4km mark, before fighting back to 137th place by the finish line in a time of 25:24.8.  It was Boone's lowest finish of his three NCAA Cross Country Championship appearances by seventeen places and slowest time by twenty-seven seconds.

Career Reflection and New Competitive Strategy
Boone's final cross country race was a time for reflection for head coach, Chad Salmela, who was celebratory of Boone's qualification for this final collegiate race in the sport.  
"Calvin's performance today is well within our expectations," said Salmela.  "We really were kind of just excited to get here."

He underscored that Boone's positive impact on the program has been deep and transformative, both internally, and in reputation across the sport.  "Calvin has been a boon for our program his entire career—pun fully intended."

Boone's All-American performance at the 2023 Championship a year ago was the collegiate high point of his cross-country career. A year later, the championship has a different meaning.

It also led the duo to reflect on how an optimal performance for an 8km cross-country season affects Boone's potential for middle-distance performance for track and field. 
"Last May, we analyzed everything across his running seasons, and simply realized that we were probably handicapping his potentially-best events as a runner, just because cross country always happens first and we're so focused on the task immediately in front of us," said Salmela.  

Boone wanted to adjust to be better prepared for the shorter distances he excels at on the track.  Salmela supported that approach fully.  It changed how they looked at Boone's final cross-country season.

With their adjusted focus, they were hopeful that Boone's senior cross-country season would go well but were also fully prepared for it to fall a little shy of previous success.  They were both pleasantly surprised Boone qualified for another cross country championship last week, but understood the difference between Boone's preparation in 2023  compared to 2024, and came to Terre Haute hoping for the best. 

"Calvin simply did all he could with the adjustments and focus we've chosen for this entire season," said Salmela.  "Would we have liked a result closer to last year?  Of course.  But we know we're not as strong in the adaptations we need for a great 8k performance, so we're neither surprised nor disappointed today that this was Calvin's weakest showing of the three. We didn't get the high of knocking it out of the park last year at this time.  But we also know where we are, and we both think this result is a good one for our approach at this time of year.  We simply didn't expect a lot more than what he did today, nor do we feel we could've expected more.  It's a good end to a great career, but it was an ending we chose."   

The Saints 2024 cross country season ends with the NCAA Championship, and it closes the curtain on Boone's program-defining career.