Led by individual champion James Settles, the Colorado College men's cross country team became the first to win four consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles since 2006 Saturday morning in Georgetown, Texas.
 
The Tigers captured four of the top eight individual spots and seven runners finished in the top 14 to earn all-conference honors.
 
Colorado College finished with 31 points, followed by Trinity University with 35 and Southwestern University with 91. CC is the first team to win four straight team titles since DePauw from 2003-06.   
 
Settles, a junior from Claremont, Calif., covered the 8K course in 25 minutes, 23.6 seconds, 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Will Salony of Trinity. Settles, the SCAC Newcomer of the Year two years ago as a freshman, finished second last season and was named this year's recipient of the league's Elite 19 award, which recognizes the all-conference performer with the best grade-point average. He has a 4.0 GPA majoring in computer science.
 
"This was a great race by the team today, all went according to Coach Alex's plan," Settles said. "I was personally inspired by Josh Fry's win last year and the women's team performance earlier today."
 
Sophomore Brett Kitazono placed fourth with a time of 26:06.9, while junior Devlin Swanson finished seventh in 26:24.2.
 
Senior Theo Snowdon (8^th/26:26.3) and sophomore Walt Jones (11^th/26.43.7) rounded out the official scoring for the Tigers, while freshman Joe Bullock earned SCAC Newcomer of the Year honors with a 12^th-place result (26:44.7). Fellow freshman Rabbit Barnes (13^th/26:46.9) also earned a spot on the all-SCAC team.
 
"We knew the men's race would be very close heading into the championship," head coach Alex Nichols said. "We ran a controlled first half then opened up the race on the hills. I am so proud of how they executed the plan on such a tough course. It feels great to win a fourth straight team championship."
 
The Tigers return to action at the NCAA Division III West Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 12, in Spokane, Wash.
 
2022 SCAC Men's Cross Country Team Results
1. Colorado College – 31
2. Trinity University – 35
3. Southwestern University – 91
4. University of St. Thomas - 96
5. Texas Lutheran University - 126 
6. University of Dallas - 181

2022 Men's Cross Country All-Conference Team
1. James Settles, Colorado College - 25:23.6 (SCAC Runner of the Year)
2. Will Salony, Trinity University – 25:53.7
3. Ben Whittemore, Trinity University - 26:06.4
4. Brett Kitazono, Colorado College – 26:06.9
5. Diego Flores, Trinity University – 26:15.1
6. Jhancarlos Carpio, Univ. of St. Thomas – 26:19.8
7. Devlin Swanson, Colorado College – 26:24.2
8. Theo Snowdon, Colorado College - 26:26.3
9. Brian Armijo, Southwestern Univ. - 26:29.5
10. Ryan Tresaugue, Trinity University – 26:38.4
11. Walt Jones, Colorado College – 26:43.7
12. Joe Bullock, Colorado College - 26:44.7 (SCAC Newcomer of the Year)
13. Rabbit Barnes, Colorado College - 26:46.9
14. Xander Bailey, Southwestern Univ. – 26:48.1

Additional CC Individual Results
18. Ayden Cherry – 26:59.2
20. Mason Castle – 27:02.7
28. Huck Whittemore – 27:24.7
32. Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik – 27:38.8
34. Axel Komplarens – 27:42.9
40. Jay Moran – 28:03.6
44. Jennings Wilson – 28:15.3
45. Ruben Margolis – 28:16.3
46. Dominic Schwein – 28:17.5
47. Aiden Santos – 28:24.0
48. Emerson Worrell – 28:24.6
50. Liam Mullen – 28:29.9
53. Sam Singer – 28:56.3