The University of Minnesota Duluth closed the books on the 2018 men's cross country season by placing 15th at the 28-team NCAA Division II Central Region Championships Saturday morning in Joplin, Mo.

Host Missouri Southern State University placed three runners among the top four finishers to claim the team title with 55 points. The Lions were followed by three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schools -- Augustana University (73 points), the University of Sioux Falls (113 pts.),  Minnesota State University-Moorhead (186 pts.). UMD, which placed fourth at last year's event en route to earning its first NCAA II Championship berth in 13 years, posted a team score of 386 points.

Luke Lahr was the top Bulldog finisher, placing 30th out of 189 runners with a 10,000-meter time of 31:19.3, Fellow senior team captain Isaac Overmyer was right behind (31st place; 31:20.1) while sophomores Braydon Kubat (58th place; 32:15.6), Cole Lebourgeois (122nd place; 33:31.9) and Owen Smalley (151st place; 34:22.9) were next. Junior Jake Kluver, who has been at top three finisher for the Bulldogs all season, did not complete the race.

"Some of our guys had off days, which can make for a long 10K race," said UMD Head Coach Paul Nisius. "Five of our runners were competing in their first 10k on grass so hopefully this was a great learning experience for them."

2018 NCAA II Central Region Championship (Results)