Program looks to join North Central and Wisconsin-Oshkosh as only men’s programs to win three in a row in Division 3 history, but the first big challenges for Sagehens come against several Division 1 teams at UC Riverside Invitational

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

The road his team faces is one traveled before, yet Kyle Flores still feels he’s leading the Pomona-Pitzer men’s cross country team into uncharted territory.

The first year, the idea of an NCAA Division 3 national championship was new and exciting.

The second year, it was all about getting back there with the proverbial target on their backs.

And now, for this year, trying to become only the third men’s team in division history to win three in a row?

KYLE FLORES INTERVIEW | DEREK FEARON AND LUCAS FLORSHEIM INTERVIEW | COLIN KIRKPATRICK INTERVIEW

“Honestly, I’m not 100 percent sure,” Flores said, when asked about his team’s approach to the 2022 season.

“I think we just try to focus on what we can control and focus on the day-to-day and week-to-week. These guys know that last year was fun and they want to do the same things.

“Winning is great and fun, but that was last year. So, really, I think my job and our job as a group is making sure we’re in the right headspace on a week-to-week basis, because we know what we need to do to get the job done.”

The Pomona-Pitzer men take their first step toward the goal of a three-peat Saturday competing against several Division 1 programs at the UC Riverside Invitational at the UCR Ag-Ops course. The men’s 8-kilometer race is scheduled for 7:50 a.m. PDT, after the women’s 6-kilometer competition at 7:15 a.m.

The Sagehens enter the meet ranked No. 1 nationally in Division 3 on the heels of a 32-point championship victory over MIT last fall at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.

Three years ago, the men won the first cross country national championship in school history by 18 points. With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the 2020 season, the last non-Pomona-Pitzer champion was North Central of Illinois, which secured its record 19th title in 2018.

North Central twice won three in a row from 1997-99 and again from 2016-18. Wisconsin-Oshkosh also captured three consecutive titles from 1988-90.

Pitzer returns its top four runners from last year.

Overall, they return six All-Americans, including junior Colin Kirkpatrick, the 10th-place finisher in Louisville in 24 minutes, 1.8 seconds in the 8-kilometer final.

“The mindset this year has been a lot about patience,” said Kirkpatrick, a New Zealand native.

“We have much of the same returning team as we did last year, actually our top four and No. 7 are coming back. ...

“We know we have the guys; we know we have the firepower,” he added later. “It’s just about staying healthy, staying on the horse and making sure our best races are going to be in October and November.”

Joining Kirkpatrick as returning All-Americans are juniors Derek Fearon and Lucas Florsheim, who were 12th (24:02.5) and 14th (24:04.9), respectively at last year’s Division 3 nationals, providing the Sagehens three of the top 15. Senior Ethan Widlansky, a 24th-place nationals finisher, is also back.

Flores pointed to freshman Jack Stein, a CIF Division 4 state finalist from the Bay Area suburb of Piedmont, sophomore Cameron Hatler and junior Nate Getachew as three young guys who could step up and be scoring contributors this season.

It’s a veteran group that not only has the cross country experience on the biggest Division 3 stage, but also the experience of coming together while negotiating their way through a pandemic.

“Our team was split about halfway between guys who had been here before the pandemic to see the first national championship,” Kirkpatrick said, “and a group of guys who had lived together through the pandemic but (had) not been part of the team before. So it was a little about merging these two parts of the team.”

The entire group will toe the line Saturday at UC Riverside, which offers a different type of challenge. Instead of worrying about second-ranked MIT, or third-ranked John Carroll in Division 3, Pomona-Pitzer gets the rare chance to see how it stacks up against Division 1 competition.

A year ago at the meet, the Sagehens were third in the invitational race behind Cal Baptist and Fresno Pacific, but this meet is expected to have a stronger big-school presence with UC Riverside also serving as the host course later this season for the Pacific-12 Conference Championships.

And the Sagehens love it.

“It should be some better competition and I think honestly that’s what we focus on, trying to compete with those top D1 schools in the nation,” Flores said. “These guys are super hungry and motivated, so they want to see this type of competition, so I think trying to go out there and beat people is our main attitude, more than just a time trial.”

“It’s no expectations, all belief – just excitement to see which kinds of D1 teams we can hang with and which ones we can’t,” Kirkpatrick said.

Pomona-Pitzer will continue to be pushed from a strong program across the street in its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival, as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is ranked No. 2 in the West and 13th in the country.

Flores knows, as well, that in any given year, the script could be flipped.

“No matter what, every single year, I know they’re going to bring it in SCIAC and (nationals),” Flores said. “I tell these guys, ‘Don’t sleep,’ because they know they bring the competition every year. They have guys who want to beat us as much as we want to beat them.

“They always keep us honest and on our toes.”

Flores was an assistant for four years prior to taking over the head coaching job before last year. He described his team as a group that works together and is on the same page, and that seems to have provided the foundation for the Sagehens’ success.

"I think we’ve got a great culture,” Fearon said. “I think there’s always room to improve, so I think we look at it that it’s not an easy win; not an automatic win. It’s something we’ve got to keep working on.”