(November 8, 2025) Fort Dodge, Iowa - After finishing third at the Region 2 Championship a couple of weeks ago, the men loaded up and headed north to Lakeside Golf Course for the 2025 NJCAA DII National Championships. The weather was nice all week until a cold front brought in a snow storm just before the race this afternoon. The Bucks competed well in the cold condititions in the traditional college 8K race.

The men would place 23rd overall in the race, after only receiving votes throughout the year in the top 25 poll. The Bucks actually bettered themselves from the Region 2 race, finishing as the second Region 2 school behind Northwest Arkansas Community College. There were a total of 343 runners in the race with 46 teams with 18 more schools bringing individual runners.

Mena's Aiden Kimp once again led the way for UA Rich Mountain. The freshmen finished 108th overall with a 29:20.2. Sophomore Alfred Rodriguez (Dalhart, TX) was close behind with a 29:39.3 that was good enough for 126th. Landon Defoor (Waldron, AR) was close on his heels with 130th finish with a time of 29:43.6. 

The next wave of Bucks crossed the finish line were Julio Alfonso Grano and Noah Burns (Weatherford, TX). Grano placed 173rd overall, while Burns was 175th. The duo ran a 30:26.0 and 30:26.9, respectively.

The final runners to finish were Camren Lynn-Edward Smith (Bella Vista, AR) and Ethan Mazzola (Benton, AR). Smith finished 191st, while Mazzola placed 263rd. 

The event wrapped up the Fall 2025 season for the Bucks. The men consistently got better all year and ran their best races of the season at the end.

Complete results and times can be found at https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/58391/events/xc/2153076. 

#DefendTheMountain