NCAA Cross Country Regional Results
2017 USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country All-Region
Men
Hlynur Andresson, SR, Eastern Michigan
Lahsene Bouchikhi, SR, Eastern Michigan
Abel Flores, SR, Eastern Michigan
Mitchell Lenneman, SR, Eastern Michigan
Women
Rachel Walny, JR, Bowling Green
Alsu Bogdanova, SR, Eastern Michigan
Jordann McDermitt, SR, Eastern Michigan
Ashley Tutt, FR, Northern Illinois
Athena Welsh, SO, Toledo
Hanne Christensen, SR, Western Michigan
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference cross country programs participated in the 2017 NCAA Regionals Friday.
The Eastern Michigan University men's cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Redshirt senior Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge) continued his outstanding season by pacing the Eagles with a second-place finish, crossing the line six seconds after the top finisher in 31:00. His performance saw the highest finish of an Eastern Michigan harrier since 2006, when Corey Nowitzke took home the regional title. Additionally, his finish was 14 places higher than in last year's event.
Fellow redshirt senior Mitch Lenneman also put together a fabulous performance, notching a personal-best 10K time of 31:25.79, and claiming 13th place. His 13th-place finish was the second-best on the team and 14 places higher than his finish in last year's competition.
The Eastern Michigan University women's cross country team raced to a fourth-place finish. Senior Jordann McDermitt led the Green and White with a fifth-place finish and a time of 20:46, matching her fifth-place finish in last year's competition. Redshirt senior Alsu Bogdanova also put together a strong performance, finishing seven places higher than in last year's competition, notching an 11th-place finish with a time of 20:53. With the two finishing within the top-25, they both earned all-region honors for the third consecutive season.
The Western Michigan cross country team finished 16th at the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships while senior Hanne Christensen earned a spot in the NCAA Championships with a sixth place finish individually. Christensen becomes the second member of the Broncos to compete in the championships since 1986.
Based on her performance, Christensen was awarded all-region honors. She led WMU with a 6K time of 20:48.8 while Indiana's Katherine Receveur won the race with a time of 20:34.9. In her last race with the Brown & Gold, senior Claire Gilbert finished second for the Broncos in 66th with a time of 21:52.2 while junior Sarah Anderson (73rd/22:01.4), freshman Juliane Sormain (130th/22:56) and sophomore Brittney Hall (191st/24:35.7) rounded out the top-5 for WMU.
Akron men's and women's cross country teams were led by the performances of senior Garrett Crichlow and redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Andrews. Collectively, the Zips placed 13th in the men's race 10K, while the Akron women's squad finished 22nd in the 6K.
In her first NCAA regional appearance, Ball State's Hannah Cummings paced the Cardinals to the finish line for the third time this season by placing 118th among scored runners with a 6K time of 22.49.0. Sophomore Brooke Talhelm was Ball State's second-fastest runner Friday morning, her best finish relative to her teammates this season, crossing the line in 23.12.1 to earn 141st among scored runners.
The Bowling Green State University men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up a historic season at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional competition. The women raced first, finishing 17th of 34 teams behind a strong finish from Rachel Walny who was towards the front of the pack for the majority of the race. Looking to continue their historic run after the Mid-American Conference Championships two weeks ago, the men placed 19th of 30 total teams. The men were headed by junior Noah Schaub, who led pack through the first 4K.
The UB women were able to collect a 10th place finish as they totaled 346 points, finishing just ahead of Marist and Harvard. The Providence Friars were able to secure their third straight Northeast Regional crown as they posted a score of 84, just ahead of Dartmouth (115) and Syracuse (117).
The UB women received strong efforts in not ideal conditions on Friday as sophomore Stephanie Ward paced the Bulls with a 51st place finish as she crossed the finish line in 22:51.6 while fellow sophomore Sylvia Russellwasn't far behind, taking 54th place in 22:53.0. Senior Morgan Mahoney finished off her final race in a Buffalo uniform strong as she notched a 57th place finish in 22:58.4. Charlotte Molloy finished in 89th place in 23:21.3 while Laura Libruk came in 95th place in 23:26.2. Rachel Barich closed out her race in 140th place while Chardae Henry was able to finish in 167th place in the 251 person field.
On the men's side, Buffalo was able to post a 14th place finish as they came in ahead of Albany and Canisius. The Syracuse Orange earned the team title with a score of 28 points while Iona was close behind with 48 points and Army raced to a third place finish with 218 points.
Buffalo was paced by William Hilbert who was able to collect a 42nd place finish on Friday in 33:06.1 while Jack Jibb finished in 57th place in 33:26.0. Senior John McCarthy wrapped up his UB career with a 98th place finish in 34:02.3 while Christopher Nowak placed 102nd and Daniel Muldoon took home 128th. Dylan Servos took home 151st place in 34:51.8 while Matthew Mercer wrapped up his season in 183rd place in the 254 runner field.
Kent State freshmen Maddie Dunlap and Nicole Fleming competed in the women's 6K race. Dunlap had a solid showing in her first regional race, placing in the top one-third with a time of 21:59.8 for 71st-place in the field of 223 runners. Fleming finished in 23:22.8 to claim 154th.
The Flashes sophomore Clark Bookman and junior Brandon Avers ran in the men's 10K race. Bookman completed the course in 33:21.7 for 111th-place, while Avers placed 120th with a time of 33:32.8.
Miami's Maria Scavuzzo posted a top-30 finish at the regional meet for the second-straight season and once again led the Red & White on the women’s side. The senior finished the 6K in 21:13 while the rest of the scoring Miami runners all finished in the top 100. Checking in next for Miami was Carly Davis, who took 55th with a time of 21:38. Alesha Vovk (68th; 21:57), Sarah Starett (74th; 22:03) and Taylor Broermann (97th; 22:29) rounded out the scoring for the MU women.
On the RedHawks men’s side, Chris Torpy and David Coffey posted near identical finishes at 38th and 39th with times of 31:57. Following that duo and scoring for the Red and White were Ryan Pitner (65th; 32:22), Sean Torpy (79th; 32:42) and Zac Thompson (84th; 32:48).
Freshmen Ashley Tutt took the leading position for the Northern Illinois University cross country team with a top-25 finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional as the Huskies earned the program's second-best finish, coming in 11th place. Tutt crossed the finish line, placing 22nd in 20:47.7 to record her fastest time of the season by nearly 40 seconds.
The Bobcats finished the 10K in 12th place with a total of 368 points and with the top-five runners averaging a 32:34 time. Sophomore Josh Park (Amherst, Ohio) followed shortly after in 64th place with a 32:22.2 time.
Ohio placed 19th out of 31 teams with a final score of 513 points and the average time for the top-five finishers at 22:31. Ellen Isaac came in first for the Bobcats finishing the race in 61st out of 223 runners with a 21:41.9 time.
Sophomore Athena Welsh paced Toledo with a 17th-place finish to lead the Rockets to a ninth-place team result in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. The ninth-place finish as a team is UT's best finish since a third-place showing at the regional meet in 2014. Toledo scored 251 points to follow eighth-place Dayton by just two. Welsh finished the 6k course in a time of 20:58 for her best time at that distance this season. In doing so, Welsh was 72 positions better than her finish a year ago and earned the Rockets first All-Great Lake Region honor in three years.
Toledo sophomore Dismas Koech and seniors Titus Koech and Alberto Chelimo each competed in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. Dismas Koech was the first of the Rocket trio to cross the 10k finish line, doing so in a time of 33:24.2 for 113th place.
The 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 18 in Louisville, Ky.
