The Michigan Technological University men’s cross-country team, coached by Wayland High School graduate Robert Young, finished among the top 10 in the nation Friday at the NCAA Division II championships near Seattle.
Young and co-coach Christina Owen guided the Huskies to their best national finish in school history, They were ranked 18th in the latest NCAA poll, but outperformed the experts’ expectations and took 10th.
Michigan Tech qualified for the national meet after placing fourth in the regionals two weeks ago at Parkside, Wisc. The Huskies finished behind defending national champion Grand Valley State (Young’s alma mater), Saginaw Valley and Walsh College. They checked in ahead of all but Grand Valley in the nationals.
The Huskies accumulated 327 team points and finished only one point behind ninth-place Missouri Southern. They took 14th, 25th, 44th, 117th and 127th. Clayton Sayen of Houghton was the only senior among the seven runners who competed.
Colorado Mines won the national title and Grand Valley was fourth.
Young graduated from Wayland in 2003 and was an NCAA Division II all-American cross-country runner for the Lakers in 2007 and an All-American in the steeplechase in track. He went on to teach and coach at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs before taking the assistant head coach job at Michigan Tech in 2021.
The highest the Huskies had ever finished in nationals before was 14th. Last year they qualified, but settled for 24th.
Thirty-four schools earned the right to compete in the national meet.
