The Golden Gopher men's cross country team placed all five of their scoring runners in the top 20 to cruise to the NCAA Midwest Region Championships title on Saturday in Peoria, Ill. Minnesota earned its eighth consecutive berth to the NCAA Championships, which is Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Senior Andrew Carlson won the individual title for the second time in his career. Carlson posted a time of 29 minutes, 48.44 seconds over the 10-kilometer course at Newman Golf Course. Carlson's time is the third best in school history at that distance, bettering his Midwest Region winning time of 2002 by over seven seconds.

For the first time in school history, the Gophers landed five runners in the top 25 to earn all-region honors. Junior Ryan Malmin ran the fifth-fastest 10K time in school history in placing third in a clocking of 30:09.96. Sophomore Antonio Vega earned all-region honors for the second consecutive season, placing 11th in a time of 30:55.60. Senior Ryan Ford added a 13th-place finish in 31:00.48, while senior Josh DoBell captured his first all-region award by placing 20th in a time of 31:05.78.

"We are definitely peaking at the right time," said Golden Gopher head coach Steve Plasencia. "Every runner stepped up today and ran a great race. You can't pick out one guy and say he was the major reason we won the title. We ran a great race as a team."

Minnesota adds the 2004 Midwest Region titles to those won in 1999 and 2001. The Gophers hope to improve on their 26th-place finish at the NCAA Championships a year ago.