VANCOUVER, Wash. – Sophomore Ryan Exell made his second career trip to the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship for the University of Michigan-Dearborn, competing in the 2019 event Friday in Vancouver, Wash.
Exell, improved by 82 spots from his finish in 2018, with a 112th-place showing in the 335-runner field for the Wolverines. He crossed the line in a time of 26 minutes, 29.4 seconds, giving him the fourth-best time among runners from the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
Exell led the Wolverines to the best season in program history, which saw the team reach as high as No. 23 in the NAIA Top-25, the program's first-ever ranking, and a best-ever finish at the WHAC Championships. He was named to the All-WHAC First Team, finishing third overall at the conference meet.
The Wolverines return a strong core of runners in 2020, as Exell will look to help guide UM-Dearborn to its first-ever bid to the National Championships as a team.
