In a day of disappointment for the Iowa men’s cross country team, Nate Mylenek stood out once again. The accomplished senior added to his impressive career during Sunday’s meet, finishing 10th overall and earning second-team all-Big Ten honors.

“Really excited and happy for Nate. He has matured and continues to get better in championship meets. He was 97th as a freshman in this meet,” head coach Randy Hasenbank said in a release. Despite another big day from Mylenek, the team had a poor day overall. With a hope to finish in the top six at the meet, the Hawkeyes crashed down to 10th out of 12 teams. The team finished with 224 points, five points off ninth place Illinois.

“On the men’s side overall, huge disappointment. To this point, we had put together a nice season and had high expectations for this Big Ten meet. We need to move forward and get ready for the NCAA regional competition,” Hasenbank said in a release.

The team started out strong, with the Hawkeyes racing out to third place after 2000 meters. Seniors Mylenek, Daniel Murphy and Karson Sommer all ran inside the top 20 in a promising start.

The Hawkeyes faded greatly down the stretch afterward. Although Mylenek and Murphy remained inside the top ten, the rest of the team faded as Iowa added 42 points at 3000 meters. The Hawkeyes continued to slide downwards the rest of the match and had no answer to the rest of the field.

On the women’s side, the team exceeded expectations. Freshman Leah Kralovetz led the way at 42nd overall. The Wisconsin-native finished sixth among all freshmen, but the team as a whole stepped up.

All five of Iowa’s scorers finished just 29 places between each other, showing that the team has potential for the future.

Megan Schott had a big day as well, finishing 49th overall in her last Big Ten Championship meet.

The women’s team ran a steady race through, with Iowa maintaining a firm grasp on ninth place throughout the entirety of the race.

The team has a break before the NCAA Regionals meet in Stillwater, Oklahoma.