RIO GRANDE, Ohio - After two-plus years of close calls, Midway's Carson Milner finally got his national breakthrough moment on Saturday.

The junior distance standout clinched a spot at the NAIA National Championships with a fourth-place run of 25:40.87 at the River States Conference Cross Country Championships. Milner secured one of the individual spots, which go to the top-four runners on non-national qualifying teams, provided they finish inside the top-15 overall.

Midway came in fifth as a team with a score of 150.

Tyler Jenkins ran a 25:01 to take medalist honors for Rio Grande, which won with a score of 38. Others in the top five were Indiana East (42 points), Shawnee State (60) and Indiana Kokomo (124).

Already a seven-time Midway record holder across cross country and track, Milner, who also earned first-team all-conference honors, gets to run his first national race in Tallahassee, Fla. on Nov. 21.

He is the third Eagle to qualify for nationals as an individual, joining four-time qualifier Jacob Kocis and two-time qualifier Josiah Kocis.

Others to score for Midway Were Connor Byrd (47th, 28:14.50), Lance Logan (57th, 28:41.98), Jonathan Kocis (58th, 28:43.45) and Adam Higgs (68th, 29:11.56).