ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The Macalester men's cross country team opened the 2015 season with a victory at the Early Bird Triangular hosted by Crown College. Lachlan Hinwood (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) led the way for the Mac Pack, finishing the 5,000-meter run in first place. 
 
The Scots won the meet with a team score of 27. Northwestern came in second place with a team score of 30 and were followed by North Central (85) and Crown (106).
 
Assistant Coach Joe Giamberdino recapped the evening stating, "The team did an excellent job embodying the 'Mac Pack' mentality, they utilized their teammates and executed smart race strategy to take home the win."
 
Hinwood finished the course in 16 minutes, 56.78 seconds and came in 44 seconds ahead of second-place finisher, Wil Maki (Northwestern). 
 
Alex Ropes (Pella, Iowa/Pella) finished the meet third overall (17:53.87) and Nate Merrill (Durham, N.C./Cedar Ridge) followed up finishing in sixth place overall (18:08.43).
 
Ben Bartenstein (Hingham, Wis./Oostburg) and Tayeb Zaidi (Oakland, Calif./Lick-Wilmending) rounded out the top five for the Scots.
 
Bartenstein stated, "This is just the beginning for us. We held a lot of talent out of the race tonight, so we have nowhere to go but up."
 
To view the complete results, click here.
 
Macalester men's cross country will return to action on Sept. 5 as they travel to Pella, Iowa to compete in the Central College Dutch Invite.