KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The Montreat College men's cross country team competed at the 2025 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Cross Country Championships on Friday at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville, Tenn. Not only did the Cavaliers punch their ticket to nationals with a second-place finish out of 13 squads, but Ryan Stade also became the first runner in program history to win the AAC meet title.
 
As a team, the Cavs tallied 54 points through their five scoring performances. Montreat finished 11 points better than SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) but 27 points back of Milligan (Tenn.), who won the conference crown with 27 points.
 
Stade and Brock Lauer provided the ultimate one-two punch as the Cavalier duo placed first and second overall. A native of Marysville, Kan., Stade made program history by becoming the first Montreat College men's cross country runner to win the AAC Cross Country Championship. The upperclassman provided a personal-best time of 24:37.44, nearly 16 seconds faster than the next finisher. Along with his individual title, Stade also garnered First Team All-AAC and AAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year recognition.
 
"It was so special to go one-two at this meet," said head coach Rylan Hincher. "Ryan Stade has been with me for a long time, transferring from my previous stop. He wrote me a note when we were both coming here and said, 'Hey, we're going to go win an AAC title.' He did that today."
 
Lauer also hauled in a pair of honors thanks to his runner-up effort. Named both First Team All-AAC and AAC Men's Cross Country Newcomer of the Year, Lauer completed his 8k in 24:53.18, good for second out of 104 finishers. The McPherson College transfer's time came within two seconds of besting his previous collegiate-best showing.
 
"Brock Lauer has made such a huge jump and just loves the team," Hincher noted. "For him to come out and finish second was huge."
 
Matthew Morin and Philip Riddle narrowly missed capturing all-conference awards, but the former did manage to carve almost 20 full seconds off his top career time. Morin crossed the finish line in 26:04.83, while Riddle ended just behind his teammate in 26:05.24. The duo concluded 15^th and 16^th, respectively.
 
Continuing the trend of Montreat pairs placing back-to-back, Hunter Smathers and Elijah Eppley finished 22^nd and 23^rd. Smathers' 22^nd-place time of 26:33.44 wrapped up the Cavs' scoring account on Friday, while Eppley's 26:38.93 mark resulted in an AAC All-Freshmen Team nod.
 
Ronald Way and Hugo Petat-Hemono finished out the meet for the Cavaliers by both placing among the top-30 runners. Only 0.04 seconds separated the two teammates as Way concluded 29^th (27:01.37) and Petat-Hemono ended 30^th (27:01.41). A native of Amilly, France, Petat-Hemono also secured a spot on the AAC All-Freshmen Team.
 
"I'm so excited to see what the guys can do here in a couple weeks at the national meet," Hincher added.
 
For a look at results from the 2025 AAC Cross Country Championships, click here.
 
As the conference runner-up, the Montreat College men's cross country team secured an automatic bid to the 2025 NAIA Cross Country Championships. The meet, which is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., marks the Cavs' eighth straight team appearance at nationals.