Williamsburg, KY – With the fall championship season upon us, Patriot fans are seeing fall sports make incredible postseason runs, while winter teams are off to tremendous starts. A dominating performances at their conference championship and a strong finish at nationals leads to Patriots men's cross country earning the Brick Oven Team of the Month honors for November, announced by the athletic department Monday.  The University of the Cumberlands Athletic Department in conjunction with their corporate partner the Brick Oven are presenting the "Brick Oven Team of the Month", which will be awarded to one Patriot team each month.

The Patriots kicked off the month with a dominating performance at the Mid-South Conference Championships.  UC had seven of the top eight finishers and 11 runners place top 16 in the field. Cumberlands scored 15 points from their top-five runners, which is the lowest possible score, to capture third straight team title by 79 points.  Ishak Mekideche was the first to cross the finish line capturing MSC Runner of the Year and MSC Freshman of the Year honors.  Ryan Ehrler, Niklas Scherb, Noah Loser, Hauke Trost, and Casey Desilvey were MSC First Team All-Conference selections, while Sean Crady, Caden Cull and Ben Beilfub were Second Team All-Conference honorees.

Cumberlands followed that up scoring 160 points to finish third at the 2025 NAIA National Championship.  It marks the third straight year that the Patriots have garnered a third-place finish, tying the best finish in program history.  Mekideche clocked a 24:34.6 to place fifth overall, while Julius Makinen finished tenth with a time of 24:39.4 to earn NAIA All-American honors.  Loser, Noah McClellan, Ehrler, Scherb all finished in the top 70 against a loaded field.
 
Cumberlands will now set their sights on indoor season, which kicks off this week.  The Patriots finished as the NAIA National Runner-Up a year ago.
 
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