Junior Ryan Smith (Westport, Conn.) finished second for Bates at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, finishing 178th overall, in 25:18.0, the best time of his collegiate career.
Finding themselves more banged-up than they would prefer on NCAA Championship day, the No. 30 nationally ranked Bates men's cross country team outpaced its seeding and finished 26th out of 32 teams at the national meet held Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.
The race represented Bates' 10th NCAA Championship meet as a program and its third straight, and its first with Curtis Johnson as head coach.
