LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Indiana Wesleyan University placed in the top-third of the NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship on Saturday as they finished 12th of 36 teams at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas.

The 12th place finish is a nine spot improvement from last season when the Wildcats earned 21st place at the national meet. The Wildcats had not finished better than 12th place since the 2007 season when they were 10th at the national championship.

Oakland City (Okla.) defended their national championship from a year ago with 55 points. Oakland City completes the year as the No. 1 ranked team through every poll this season. Southern Oregon was a distant runner-up with 113 points and Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) was third place with 142 points. Indiana Wesleyan was 12th place with 348 points and was 32 points out of a top-10 finish.

Neno Bellinotti (FR/Sweetser, Ind.) highlighted the day for Indiana Wesleyan with a NAIA All-American selection for finishing in the top-30. Bellinotti was 29th in the 320-runner race. He finished the 8,000-meter course in a time of 25 minutes 32 seconds.

Jacob Reinking (SO/Ft. Wayne, Ind.) was a second Wildcat in the top-50 today as he was 47th with a time of 25:51. John Wilson (JR/Angola, Ind.) was close behind Reinking with a time of 26:05 for 66th position. Alex Brown (JR/Coleman, Mich.) took 134th place in a time of 26:44 and Tyler Laubach (JR/Walnutport, Pa.) was the last scorer for the Wildcats in 166th position as he crossed the line in 26:59.

Nathan Gerrick was 173th today in 27:02 and Josh Neideck (FR/Upland, Ind.) was the seventh Indiana Wesleyan runner to cross the line as he was 218th in 27:26.