EAST LANSING, MI – The Johns Hopkins men's cross country team had two runners finish in the top 30 to earn All-America honors and help the Blue Jays to a 12^th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon.  The 12^th-place finish is the fifth-highest showing in program history for the Blue Jays, who totaled 384 points on the day.
 
"The men fought really hard and improved 12 spots from last year," head coach Bobby Van Allen noted. "This was our first time having two All-Americans and that was really a great thing for us, especially with both coming back next year. The conditions with obviously difficult to navigate, but our guys kept pushing hard to beat some very talented teams."
 
Freshman Emmanuel Leblond and junior Gavin McElhennon ran virtually side-by-side throughout the race and placed 22^nd and 23^rd, respectively, among scoring runners (26^th & 27^th overall) to lead the way for the Blue Jays.  Leblond narrowly edged McElhennon as he crossed in 25:29.6 with McElhennon just behind at 25:29.7.
 
Leblond and McElhennon become the first pair of Blue Jays to place in the top 30 at the NCAAs in the same season and the first tandem to earn All-America honors in the same season as well.
 
The Blue Jays locked down their 12^th-place finish with three finishers grabbing spots between 80^th and 142^nd among scoring runners.  Junior Jonas Larson was the first Blue Jay in the next wave to finish as he clocked in at 26:07.0 to finish 80^th among counters, while Daniel Chen (26:22.0) and Sean Enright (26:35.3) came through in 117^th and 142^nd place, respectively, among scorers.
 
MIT won the team title with two runners in the top five and 82 points, while Wartburg (129 points), SUNY Geneseo (168), John Carroll (186) and Pomona Pitzer (193) rounded out the top five in the team scoring.
 
The 12^th-place finish for the Blue Jays this year has been surpassed only in 2019 (5^th), 2016 (8^th), 2018 (9^th) and 2013 (11^th).