LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 17 Wartburg men's cross country team won the 2018 American Rivers Conference Championship with 32 points. This marked the first Conference Championship since 2005 for the Knights.
 
The Knights top finisher was sophomore Sam Pinkowski (La Crosse, Wis.) who finished second overall with a time of 26:07.8. Sophomore Joe Freiburger (Holy Cross) came in fourth with a time of 26:15.66, followed by freshmen Dalton Martin (Rock Island, Ill.) who came in seventh with a  time of 26:42.06
 
Rounding out the top-15 were sophomore Liam Conroy (Mount Vernon) at 11^th overall with a time of 27:00.93, senior Casey Roberts (Ankeny) at 13^th overall with a finishing time of 27:06.10 and sophomore Matt Heinzman (Royal Oak, Mich.) at 15^th with a time of 27:09.90.

Pinkowski, Freiburger, Martin, Conroy, Roberts and Heinzman all earned All-Conference honors.

Wartburg also won the Conference Coaching Staff of the Year award for also the first time since 2005.

The Knights will return to action on Nov. 2, where they will participate in the Saga Cup at Luther College.

Click here for the photo gallery.
Click here for the complete results.

Complete Team Standings:
#1. No. 17 Wartburg, 32 points.
#2. Loras College, 69 points.
#3. Nebraska Wesleyan, 91 points.
#4. Luther College, 124 points.
#5. Simpson College, 130 points.
#6. Central College, 134 points.
#7. University of Dubuque, 170 points.
#8. Coe College, 234 points.
#9. Buena Vista University, 289 points.
 
Wartburg's Competitors:
#2. Sam Pinkowski, 26:07.8
#4. Joe Freiburger, 26:15.66
#7. Dalton Martin, 26:42.06
#8. Caleb Appleton, 26:46.94
#11. Liam Conroy, 27:00.93
#13. Casey Roberts, 27:06.10
#15. Matt Heinzman, 27:09.90
#25. Collin Day, 27:43.28
#28. Sam Lorimer, 27:50. 60
#30. Matthew Schneider, 27:54.91
#31. Jordan Yessak, 27:55.35
#36. Ali Ali, 27:58.60
#42. Morgan Shirley-Fairbairn, 28:13.33
#48. Conor Sapp, 28:25.45
#58. Curren Matthias, 28:39.13
#59. Andrew Ellison, 28:40.51
#65. Jay Mixdorf, 28:47.07
#67. Spencer Warehime, 28:52.20
#69. Drew Hoffman, 28:55.29
#85. Ryan Dalton, 29:25.19
#86. Mark Schulz, 29:28.79
#102. Sam Madison, 30:04.11
#110. Alec Ille, 30:16.94
#119. Jon Fuentes, 30:48.44
#135. Matt Egts, 31:26.59
#137. Patrick Breitsprecher, 31:28.88
#154. Greyson Kincaid, 32:21.06
#164. Callum Brittain, 33.32.89
#172. Eli Hedden, 34:39.55