MONTICELLO, Ark. -- Ouachita freshman standout Caleb Greenwich ran the next chapter of his breakout season into the record books, becoming the first runner in program history to claim the Great American Conference Cross Country Freshman of the Year award. Greenwich was the first freshman to cross the line and broke his own program record by less than one second with a time of 24:30.87 to finish the 8K race in seventh place and also earn a selection to the All-GAC First-Team. 

The Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina native paced the Ouachita men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish out of an eight-team field at the GAC Championship Saturday, hosted by Arkansas-Monticello.

Ouachita head coach Steve Guymon acknowledged Greenwich emerged onto the scene and instantly became more than just the face of the men's cross country team, but perhaps the best performer in the program history. 

"He has had an amazing season," Coach Guymon said. "He does not fear anyone or any course or any challenge."

Greenwich is a humble character from a family tied to Ouachita. After establishing a program benchmark with a time of 24:31.6 at the Texas A&M Invitational in just his second collegiate race, he entered the championship weekend with the confidence and momentum to improve his personal-best finish. 

While Greenwich grabbed the spotlight in the closing ceremony, his teammates chipped in with strong efforts that helped the Tigers compete among the league's best. Ouachita scored a team total of 110 points, with six runners finishing inside the top 30. Three Tigers earned the Elite Scholar Athlete award for owning a cumulative 4.0 GPA, including juniors Noah Embrey, Gabriel Greenwich and Zach Wigginton. Nine other Tigers were selected to the GAC Academic Honor Roll, including Evan Armitage, Dylan Dew, Brit Hawkins, Max Henry, Brayden James, Will Johnson, Christian Kratz, Cade Martin, and Micah Meeks.