EVANSVILLE, Ind. - One Kocis brother clinched a return to the NAIA Cross Country National Championships Saturday, while another is likely to join him next week.

Josiah Kocis punched his ticket with a fifth-place run of 25:10.2 at the River States Conference Championships on Saturday morning. He led an Eagle team that finished fourth with a final score of 100.

Shawnee State repeated as league champions with 43 points. narrowly edging out the 47 of Rio Grande, which was led by Tyler Jenkins, who won the race for a second-consecutive year with a time of 24:52.3.

Indiana East was third with 56 points.

Kocis guaranteed his place at nationals for the third time. He ran with the Eagles when they qualified as a team in 2021, then reached as an individual last season.

Individual spots are given to the top-four runners on teams that didn't qualify for nationals, provided they finish in the top-15. Champion Shawnee State earned an automatic bid and had one runner -- fourth-place Isaiah Lanoy -- finish ahead of Kocis.

This year's national race will be held in Columbia, Mo. on Nov. 22.

Though his spot isn't fully secured yet, Jacob Kocis should have a good path to nationals as well after finishing 11th in 25:29.5.

Rio Grande and IU East are both expected to receive at-large national team bids when they are announced Tuesday. If that happens, Jacob would have the third-best finish from a non-team qualifier, coming in behind only his brother and Thomas Champman of St. Mary of the Woods, who finished ninth in 25:20.2. 

Carson Milner also finished in the top-20, placing 19th in 26:25.5. Others to score for the Eagles were Joshua Kocis, who finished 38th in 28:00.7, and Lance Logan, who was 42nd in 28:21.2

Other finishers for Midway were Connor Messer in 46th (28:32.0) Isaac Cockrell in 48th (28:37.0), Connor Byrd in 60th (29:18.1), Steven Meyer in 67th (29:47.3) and Adam Higgs in 95th (32:45.5).