The Saints Men came off a strong MIAC Championships showing two weeks ago with all five of the scoring runners, and eight of fourteen total starters, running the fastest 8km cross country races of their lives, to finish a respectable 7^th place as a team.
One might be hard-pressed live up to such a performance just 14 days later for the NCAA North Regional at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, WI—against a bigger, more competitive field.
With just the top seven runners allowed to start to score five runners for team score at the Regionals, the Saints did just that, finishing in 19^th place of 31 teams.
Five of the seven starters ran 8k personal bests, with a sixth runner just 3.9 shy of his best mark.  
The Whitetail course has a reputation of being fickle—sometimes fast, sometimes not so fast, but rarely slow.  It is a well-known course, and famously gets quick as the ground hardens over from frost and freezing.  It was hosting the North Regional for the third time in the five years since the region was created in 2021; but unlike the two previous editions, unseasonably-mild temperatures yielded few PBs.
Across the 211-man field, just 15 total runners ran personal-best 8k times.  One-third of them were Saints.
At the front of the field, Augsburg senior Mohammed Bati ran 24:23.4 to win after being tested by brothers Grant and Aidan Matthai of Wisconsin La Crosse, with Aidan finishing runner up in 24:29.4 and Grant third in 24:33.2
The top-ranked team in the country had no problem winning the team title as the UW La Crosse Eagles posted just 30 points, placing their first three scoring runners in the top four, and their fifth and final scorer in 14^th place.  They led a UW-school sweep of the top three with Wisconsin Stevens Point second with 110 points, and Wisconsin Platteville third with 120 points.
Nationally-ranked St. Olaf was the first MIAC and non-UW school in fourth with 128 points.
Jeffrey Kayfes (Buhl, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS) led the Saints scoring in 84^th place in his final race as a Saint, running an 8k personal best time of 26:34.2 to close out his career, jumping up two places to 15^th fastest 8k all time for the Saints program.
Max Rogers (Moorhead, MN/Moorhead HS) scored second in his final race as a Saint, finishing 111^th with a 13.6-second personal best time of 27:24.4.
Connor Feldt (Aurora, MN/Mesabi East HS) was the third scorer on the day, bettering his 8km best by 27.7 seconds, finishing 117^th in 27:34.6. 
Ashton Niemi (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) scored fourth for the Saints just 4.9 seconds behind Feldt in 121^st place, in a  time 27:39.5, his second-best 8k ever by just 3.9 seconds.
Evan Bumgardner (Luverne, MN/Murray County Central HS) scored for the Saints for the third time in as many races, finishing 134^th, knocking 17.8 seconds off of his 8km personal best in the process.
The Saints finished 19^th of 31 teams, and 6^th among MIAC teams, one spot higher than at the MIAC championship.
"I absolutely love how the men closed out the season," glowed Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  "We always try to peak at the championship races, and we did that to the max.  As a coach, you simply can't ask for a better performance at a championship with the personnel you have.  We had four of five scorers run the fastest races of their lives, and the 5^th who didn't ran less than 4 seconds slower than he'd ever run before.  I'd say we did about all we could possibly hope to do today."
The Saints end the season on a relatively high note, moving up one position among MIAC conference foes to finish the day as the 6^th MIAC school in the field, finishing 58 points clear of Bethel, whom the Saints flipped from the MIAC Championships.
The national championship qualifying teams and individuals will be named Monday, November 17^th.  The Saints have no possibilities for advancement, ending the 2025 Men's Cross Country campaign.
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