Middlebury College earned first place overall in the 2015 Vermont State Men's Cross Country Championship race held at Johnson State College Saturday morning. The Panthers' junior harrier Brian Rich beat out 68 runners to sprint to 1st place overall, finishing the challenging course in 26:12. Rich completed the race eight seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

For the Badgers, senior Brendan Walsh led the Badgers taking 21st overall finishing the course in 28:15. Teammates Steven Lamonde, John Dabrowski and Zach Shuttle followed Walsh finishing in 37th, 51st and 52nd respectively. 

Norwich University took home the runner-up title placing six runners in the top thirty. St. Michael's College, Lyndon State and Castleton finished third, fourth and fifth respectively followed by hosts Johnson State and Green Mountain. Vermont Technical had four runners complete the course, but did not register a team score. 

The Badgers will return to action on Saturday at 12:00pm for the Runnin' Monks Invitational at St. Joe's (ME).