JOPLIN, Mo. – IUP senior Alex Hampel (Middletown, Del./Salesianum) finished his season at the 2015 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championships on Saturday, crossing the line with a time of 31:58.10. His time put him in 149th place overall out of 246 overall runners in the 10K race.
 
Hampel got stronger as the race went on, improving his place at each checkpoint. He hit the 2K mark in 199th place, moving up to 173rd at the 5K mark and to 164th at the 6.875K mark.
 
Hampel's pace for the race was 5:09, while his time fell 12 seconds short of his career-best.
 
The two-time All-Atlantic Region and All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) runner, Hampel was announced as the Elite 90™Award winner at the championships banquet on Friday night prior to the race. The Elite 90™ Award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average at each of the NCAA's 90 championships.
 
This was the third straight year that the IUP men's cross country program has sent an individual to the NCAA Championships, with Hampel following in the footsteps of Ray Ofman (Armagh, Pa. /United) (2014) and Nick Patton (2013).
 
Hampel finished in 19th place overall at the Atlantic Region Championships, and as one of the top three individuals not from a qualifying team, earned a bid to nationals.
 
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