Athens native and Madison graduate Matthew McClintock is an NCAA cross country All-American again.

McClintock, a junior at Purdue, earned All-American status for the second year in a row with a 19th-place finish at Saturday’s NCAA Championships in Terra Haute, Ind. His time was 30 minutes, 41.7 seconds.

“My overall goal was top 15. It was a good day. I can’t say it was a bad day,” McClintock said.

Another Mainer, Waterville’s Bethanie Brown, also competed at the NCAA Championships and helped Iowa State to second in the nation.

Last year, McClintock became Purdue’s first All-American in 26 years with a 37th place finish on the same course. Despite running in windy and muddy conditions and a slow start this year, he shaved 2.5 seconds off his time.

“The race went out a lot slower than what I preferred from my style,” he said. “I couldn’t push the pace. I sort of tucked in (and) stayed in the pack. There were a lot of us in there.”

He was 33rd after the first 3,000 meters, with a split of 9:13.1. He dropped back to 37th midway through the race.

That’s when McClintock made his move and jumped up 18 spots over the next 3,000 meters. Runners started to spread out around the 8-kilometer mark, allowing McClintock to gear up for a final 2K split of 6:01.3 and maintain his hold on 19th.

“I was two or three seconds out of 15th,” he said. “If you could run this race tomorrow, I could be eighth.”

“Matt is representing the program well,” Purdue head coach Lonnie Greene said on Purdue’s website. “He’s a warrior and a real trooper. To see how well he competed for as slow as the conditions were with the wind and mud shows how fit and tough he is. He stood in there with the best and competed. I am very excited because the future is bright for Purdue cross country and Matt is taking the lead.”

Brown, a sophomore, finished 53rd overall in the women’s 6K with a time of 20:53.5, just missing picking up All-America honors for the second consecutive year. She was the third Cyclones runner to cross the finish line.

Brown hadn’t raced since Sept. 27 due to an ankle injury. Yet she was just 10 seconds slower than last year and helped the Cyclones tie for the highest finish in team history. They totaled 147 points, behind only champion Michigan State with 85.

Dan Curts, a native of Ellsworth who also runs for Iowa State, finished 205th overall in the men’s race with a time of 32:40.2.

Division III

MASON, Ohio — The Colby College men finished fifth in the country at the Division III championships at the Golf Center at King’s Island.

The Mules, the New England Division III champions, finished first among New England schools by tying Washington (Mo.) at 192. However, Washington won a tie-breaker to take fourth and the Mules were fifth. C

David Chelimo finished in a time of 24 minutes, 12.6 seconds to take 11th place out of 280 finishers. He earned All-American, All-New England and All-NESCAC honors.

Waterville native Jeff Hale finished 53rd for the Mules in 24:57.6.