Men's cross country junior Corey Mullins recorded the second-best finish by a Muhlenberg male runner at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships, hosted at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.
 
Mullins (pictured above) finished in 76th place, improving by 44 places from his finish at the championships last year. The junior also finished fifth amongst fellow Centennial Conference runners competing in the race.
 
The junior started the race by running a blistering 5:03.10 first mile and passed the second mile marker in just under 10 minutes. He fell off his initial pace before improving his position by eight places after the fourth mile marker to cross the finish line in 25:22.41.
 
"It was a challenging course in rainy and windy weather, and running 25:22 is a great time for me considering that," Mullins said. "It was still a 44-place improvement over last year. If I do that again next year, I'll be able to join Jaryd [Flank] as an All-American, which is the goal. This was another great educational experience as to how I can improve in track and field during next year's season."
 
The race capped a season for Mullins in which he became the fifth member of the Muhlenberg men's team to place in the top 10 at the NCAA regional meet and the sixth different Mule to place in the top four at the Centennial Conference championship meet, becoming the third non-senior to accomplish the feat.
 
Muhlenberg has qualified an athlete for the cross country national championships in 13 straight seasons and 15 of the previous 17 years.