Wichita State
DEKALB, Ill. — Wichita State junior Aliphine Tuliamuk automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships Saturday, winning the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional women's 6,000-meter race.

Tuliamuk finished the race in 20:40.68 — more than 12 seconds ahead of the second place finisher — on the Northern Illinois University North 40 Course.

The Shocker women finished 12th out of 28 teams with 315 points. Patrober Murindat finished 34th (22:07.44), Scarla Nero 82nd (22:51.90), Samantha Shukla 93rd (22:57.94), Danielle Walker 107th (23:19.37), Sharon Zeller 120th (23:19.37) and Laura Burke 147th (23:53.32) out of 189 competitors.

"On the women's side, Aliphine was awesome," Shocker head coach Kirk Hunter said. "She followed the race plan, and it paid off. Patrober, Danielle, Sam and Sharon all ran very well. As a team, we did good, but we just didn't have the front-end firepower to go with Aliphine. We look forward to Aliphine's national race."

This marks the second-straight year a Shocker women's cross country student-athlete qualified for the NCAA Championships and fifth time in eight years. Tonya Nero went on to finish 16th at the NCAA Championships last season.

The Shocker men finished 18th out of 25 teams in the men's 10K Saturday with 470 points. Marcos Bailon led the Shocker men with a 60th-place finish in 32:50.85 out of 171 runners. Jackson Toroitich finished 65th (33:03.00), Spencer Sterling 107th (34:07.88), Jake Wike 115th (34:14.22), Abel Assefa 134th (34:42.95) and Scott Ufford 148th (35:20.13).

"Our men are disappointed in our team finish today," Hunter said. "We lack depth and when Tomas (Cotter) did not finish, our team chances were shot. Marcos, Jackson and Abel had great races, but overall we didn't respond the way we had hoped. Still, our guys improved dramatically this year and they deserve credit for their efforts."

The Shocker men and women entered the meet each ranked 11th in the Midwest in the latest NCAA Division I regional rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Oct. 31.

The top two teams and top four individual finishers not on a qualifying team Saturday automatically qualified for the national championships, which will be held Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Additional at-large teams and individuals will be chosen following Saturday's nine regional competitions held throughout the country at the Division I level.

A total of 33 Midwest Division I programs from 10 conferences and the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota were slated to participate Saturday in DeKalb.

The NCAA Championships will take place Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Bradley
DEKALB, Ill. -- All-Missouri Valley Conference runner Sarah McMahon finished 59th to lead the Bradley women's cross country team, while junior Jon Richards was 86th to lead the men's squad Saturday at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

McMahon led the Braves for the fifth time in six races, helping the Braves to a 17th-place finish in the women's 6K.  Richards crossed the line in 86th to help the men's team place 20th in the Regional finals. 

The women's team finished with 480 points, five points behind 16th-place finisher South Dakota State (475) and just seven points back of 15th-place Illinois (473).  Kansas State was 14th in the women's field with 461 points.  Iowa State had four of the top 10 individual finishers to take the team title with 64 points.

The Bradley men's team edged in-state foe Illinois-Chicago for 20th with 547 points, finishing 35 points behind 19th-place Southeast Missouri State (512).  Oklahoma State placed four individuals in the top six and claimed the team title with 42 points to edge Oklahoma (45 points).

McMahon covered the 6K course in a time of 22:30.75 to finish 59th and was less than 30 seconds out of the top 30.  Freshman Molly Dahlquist was 22 seconds behind McMahon in 83rd (22:52.40), while sophomore Cassie Lohmeier finished 94th (22:59.07). 

Richards paced the men's team, covering the 10K course in a time of 33:40.25 to finish 86th to edge freshman Marshall Moyer by eight seconds for top individual honors.  Moyer was 91st overall at 33:48.79.  Freshman Eric Delvo rounded out the top three for BU, crossing the line in 116th with a time of 34:15.53.

Creighton
DeKalb, Ill. -- The Creighton men’s cross country team finished 25th at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday. The 25-team event featured several Missouri Valley schools such as Wichita State, Bradley and Drake, as well as in-state rival Nebraska.

Hassan Mead of Minnesota won the men’s 10k race. He finished with a time of 31:16. Wichita State’s Aliphine Tuliamuk finished first out of 189 runners in the women’s 6k, with a time of 20:40. Oklahoma State won the men’s team race while Iowa State won the women’s division.

Casey Jergenson led the Bluejay men. The senior finished 108th of 171 runners with a time of 34:08, this is the second fastest 10k time of his career.  Junior Chris Culhane was the second to cross the line for the Jays at 138th. He also posted his second fastest 10k time clocking in at 34:56. Joe Hamel rounded out the top three for the Jays. The sophomore finished 164th with a time of 36:27.

Freshmen Drew Prescott (168th, 36:48), Steve Raimondi (169th, 36:55), junior Tom Shimp (170th, 37:13), and sophomore Danny Diaz (171st, 37:35) all finished the course for the Jays.

On the women’s side junior Izzy Squires finished 182nd with a time of 25:52, but the Jays did not field the necessary five runners to garner a team score.
The meet ends the fall cross country season for both squads.

Drake
DEKALB, Ill. – Sophomore Brogan Austin, against a very tough field, earned a 36th-place showing at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday (Nov. 12).
 
Austin completed the 10,000-meter course in 32:13.69 to lead the Bulldogs as a squad to a 12th-place finish. 171 runners from 33 schools competed in the qualifying race for the NCAA Cross Country Championship.
 
“Brogan put himself in position early against the very best in the nation,” commented head coach Dan Hostager. “It caught up with him later on in the race, but I’m really proud of his effort.”
 
Senior Colin Hagan, in his final collegiate cross country race, was 63rd crossing the line in 32:58.23. Right behind him was sophomore Omet Kak, whose time of 33:01.87 earned him a 64th-place showing.
 
Sophomore Doug Brady was 72nd finishing in 33:18.20, while freshman Conor Wells was 93rd running the course in 33:49.86.
 
“Our men’s team capped off a very successful fall season,” said Hostager. “We’ve got a very young team and it was great to see our top senior finish off his collegiate cross country career with another outstanding performance.”
 
Oklahoma State edged out Oklahoma for the team title as the Cowboys finished the meet with 42 points, while the Sooners earned 45 points. Winning the individual tittle was Hassan Mead of Minnesota, who crossed the line in 31:16.87.
 
This marks the final meet of the season for the Drake squad, which will now switch its attention to the upcoming track and field season. 

Evansville
TOLEDO, Ohio—The University of Evansville men’s cross country team posted its best-ever finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet on Saturday, as the Purple Aces placed 21st out of 31 teams at Ottawa Golf Course in Toledo, Ohio.  Freshman cross country runner Josh Genet also posted an impressive debut in the men’s 10-K event, as he tied Nick Waninger’s 10-K school record with a mark of 32:10.7.

Genet led a pack of four men who posted times in UE’s career top 10 in the 10-K, while sophomore runner Kelby Jenkins led a pack of three women who cracked UE’s career top 15 in the 6-K event, as the UE women placed 27th overall.

“I am extremely proud of my team today,” said UE head coach Don Walters.  “They ran an outstanding race, and there were personal-records set left and right.  You always want to have a strong finish to your season, and our team definitely did, beating teams at this meet that we were unable to beat earlier in the year.  I’m really proud of both teams.”

Genet led the UE men to its best team finish by placing 89th out of 211 runners with a 10-K time of 32:10.7 to tie Waninger’s school standard.  Sophomore Andrew Barrett was not far off Genet’s time, posting UE’s third-fastest 10-K time ever with a mark of 32:25.9 to place 101st overall.  Junior Cody Stein also recorded UE’s fifth-fastest 10-K time at 32:41.2 (114th overall), while senior Brian Denny tied the sixth-fastest mark with a time of 32:43.5 (118th overall).

On the women’s side, Jenkins posted the fourth-fastest 6-K mark on record at UE with a time of 22:28.0 to place 95th overall.  Junior Lauren Zeabart recorded the 12th-fastest 6-K time in UE history with a mark of 23:18.5 (146th out of 227 runners), while senior Melissa Truex posted the 13th-best time with a mark of 23:24.1 (149th).  Overall, all seven men and all seven women who competed for the Purple Aces on Saturday set new personal-best times in the race.

Saturday’s meet concluded the 2011 season for the Purple Aces.  UE will return 23 total runners from this year’s squad next season – 15 women and eight men – including 11 of the 14 runners who competed in today’s meet.

Illinois State
DEKALB, Ill.  – Without their No. 1 finisher and runner-up at the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship, the Illinois State women’s cross country team finished in 11th place at the 2011 NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships, Saturday, at the North 40 Cross Country Course in Dekalb, Ill.

The Redbirds came together and managed to finish within one place of their No. 10 regional ranking. Senior Aisha Praught and junior Elise Sigg set the pace for the women, crossing the line in 13th and 23rd place, respectively. These are the two highest finishes for an Illinois State women’s cross country runner since the 2001 season in which Stacia Beste qualified for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.

On a day that proved to be perfect for a cross country meet with temperatures in the 50s and the sun shining, Praught ran the 6K championship race in 21:30.89 to be the first Redbird across the finish line. Sigg ran a 21:44.47 to finish 23rd. Since both finished in the top-25, they each earned all-region honors, another first for a women’s runner since the 2001 season.

Head cross country coach Jeff Bovee is proud of the performance by the women’s team.

“I am really proud with the performance the women’s team put forth,” said Bovee. “The women stepped up and filled some holes in that of Krista DeCeault who did not compete today. Rachael, Kristen and Brea ran solid and Ashley Kamin had her best race of the year. We were ranked 10th heading into the race, and to finish 11th without our top runner, that’s all you can ask for. In regards to Aisha and Elise earning all-region honors, that’s saying something as the Midwest Region runs very deep with a lot of great competition. These are the first two since I have been here and the first since 2001, so that shows how well our program has evolved and where it is headed.”

Adding to the team’s score and finishing as part of the Illinois State’s top-five was Kristen Zillmer (22:29.67), Rachael Brewer (23:06.93) and Brea Tinney (23:23.38).

Freshman Ryan Rutherford and senior John Navarro were the only two Redbird men to compete in the 10K championship event. Rutherford finished in 49th place with a time of 32:37.35 and was the seventh freshman to cross the line in a field of 171 runners. Navarro finished up his cross country career at Illinois State, stepping across the line at the 33:57.72 mark.

The team awaits the final selections from the NCAA to see if Praught will advance as part of an at-large bid for individual runners not attached to teams competing at the national meet. The selections will be known Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Indiana State
TOLEDO, OHIO – Indiana State senior Craig Padgett established a new school record, earned All-Region honors and has an outside chance of qualifying for the NCAA Championships as an at-large selection after a 16th place finish in the men’s 10K race at the Great Lakes Region Championship Saturday.

Padgett completed the 10K course in 30:38.8 which breaks the 12-year-old record of Jason Gunn who ran 30:44 in finishing eighth at the 1999 Great Lakes Region Championship which was held in Terre Haute, Ind.

“Padgett ran a great race today,” John McNichols, Indiana State men’s cross country coach, said. “We will have to wait and see how the at-large selection goes on Sunday but he does have a good chance to advance to the NCAA Championship.”

The Sycamore men finished 12th in the team standings with 334 points. Wisconsin won the team title with 50 points while Indiana was second with 70, both automatically advancing to the NCAA Championships which will be held Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Michigan was third with 104 and Notre Dame fourth with 119 points with each now looking for an at-large selection.

The Sycamore women were 15th overall with 422 points marking their third best team performance since moving to the Great Lakes Region in 1997. Michigan won the team title with 45 points with Michigan State scoring 77 and finishing second. Both automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. Toledo finished third with 84 and Wisconsin fourth with 91 and each are now hoping for an at-large selection.

Padgett earned his second All-Region recognition Saturday after earning All-Region in 2009 with a 23rd place finish in the Region Championship held in Bloomington, Ind.

Senior Jeremiah Vaughan finished 69th with a time of 31:50.4 while junior Albaro Escalera was 75th in 32:00.8, junior Dustin Betz  81st in 32:07.1, and freshman Tristan Selby was 93rd in 32:18.6. Also running for ISU was senior Tyler Kent who was 99th in 32:25.0 and freshman Drew Gambill who was 138th out of the 211 runners competing with a time of 33:10.4

“All season long we have had four runners that would interchange as our number one,” McNichols said. “Padgett ran well today but the other three did not have the kind of day that we were looking for. I was disappointed in the team’s finish because I know that we are better than that and we just did not prove it.”

The Indiana State men defeated several quality programs with their effort today including Akron (408), Kent State (412), Toledo (438), Eastern Michigan (442), Miami (Ohio) (453), Dayton (489), Ohio University (493), Xavier (Ohio) (515), Evansville (591), Oakland (597), IUPUI (601), Bowling Green (640), Wright State (718), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (817), Detroit Mercy (832), Youngstown State (832), Valparaiso (893), and Wisconsin-Green Bay (960).

The Sycamore women were led by senior Kacie Klem who ran the fourth best 6K time in school history, finishing 46th overall with a time of 21:41.7. Sophomore Jessica Zangmeister was 52nd in 21:50.6 while junior Andrea Prusz was 91st in 22:26.2, freshman Nicole Lucas 112th in 22:44.9, senior Kristy Twitchell 121st in 22:55.5, and sophomore Kalli Dalton 162nd out of the 227 competitors in 23:39.5.

“Zangmeister was out in a good position and held it right through the finish,” McNichols said. “Klem was a little more conservative at the start but came on at the finish. Overall, the women’s team competed very well and accomplished their goal of making it into the top 15.”

Five of the ISU women recorded times that place them in the top 20 of the Sycamore all-time 6K list including Klem (fourth), Zangmeister (seventh), Prusz (ninth), Lucas (12th), and Twitchell (16th).

“It was a huge, huge improvement from a year ago when we were 21st,” John Gartland, Indiana State women’s cross country coach said.

Gartland was unable to make the trip due to illness but was kept informed of his team’s progress throughout the event.

“I am really proud of this team,” Gartland said. “We ended on a fairly positive note. This is the third best performance at a regional meet since we moved to the Great Lakes in 1997. The women did a really good job today.”

The NCAA selection committee meets at 9 a.m. (ET) Sunday to begin the process of establishing those that automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship and those who will receive an at-large bid. The NCAA Championships will be held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 21.

Missouri State
DEKALB, Ill. -- The Missouri State cross country team concluded its season with the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday in Dekalb, Ill. In a 28-team field with stiff competition, the cross country Bears finished 25th overall.

Sophomore Erin Edwards was Missouri State's top finisher, cracking the 23-minute plateau in the 6K race at the NIU North 40 Course. Edwards' time of 22:55.57 landed her in the top-100 as she placed 88th overall. The Kansas City, Mo. native is the third Bear to take home top-team honors.

Also placing in the top-100 for Missouri State was Emily Beaver. The junior recorded a time of 23:06.30 and finished 100th.

After Beaver, the next Bear to cross the finish line was freshman Emma Burditt (23:37.52), placing 135th.

Other Missouri State finishers included Lisa Imgrund (165th), Nicole Thate (171st) and Terry Phillips (179th).

Hosted by Northern Illinois University, the Midwest Regional featured schools from 10 different conferences including the Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Conference USA, Great West, Horizon League, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley and Summit League.

The top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team automatically advanced to the NCAA National Championships being held on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Iowa State and Oklahoma State finished first and second in the team standings, while Wichita State's Aliphine Tuliamuk earned individual top honors.

Northern Iowa
University of Northern Iowa junior Hayley Thomas led the Panther women's cross country team at the NCAA Midwest Regional held in DeKalb, Ill., on Saturday afternoon. Thomas finished the 6k course in 22:26.39 for 52nd place overall, recording a season-best time by 16 seconds. UNI claimed 21st place as a team.

Senior Jill Lageschulte was the Panthers' No. 2 finisher, crossing the line in 23:02.75 for 99th place. Junior Allison Fick claimed 116th place with a time of 23:16.77, Leah Blanchard was 129th at 23:30.25, and Scotti Schon placed 134th with a time of 23:36.86.

Southern Illinois
As a team, the men placed 10th of 25, while the women placed 23rd of 28th.  The meet was ran on the recently reconfigured NIU North 40, which is located in the northeast corner of the Northern Illinois University campus. The course featured gradual uphill and downhill climbs along rolling hills to offer the teams a challenge.

The top finisher for the Saluki men was Brian Dixon who placed 37th in a field of 171 runners. He clocked in a 10K time of 32:15.82.  "Brian ran great, he definitely has been the most consistent on the men's side all year," said SIU coach Matt Sparks.

Senior Neal Anderson placed close to Dixon in the 41st position with a time of 32:25.24. Zach Dahleen placed 70th with a time of 33:12.39. Cole Allison placed 77th with a time of 33:23.01.

T.J. Heffernan and Evan Ehrenheim rounded out the line-up placing 82nd and 104th, respectively.   "This race was a 10K so it hurt our younger guys because each race this season has been a 8K, so the extra distance was a challenge," Sparks said. "Overall our team goal was to place in the top-ten in the region and we achieved that."

The Saluki women were lead by Jamie Pfister who place 62nd with a time of 22:34.28. The senior from Roanoke, Ill. improved by 47 positions from last year's regional championship.

"It was really great to see Jamie Pfister go out this way. She has contributed in so many ways to the Saluki cross country and track and field programs over the past five years that I am happy to see her season end this way."

Freshman Lacey Gibson finished strong in 81st place with a 6K time of 22:49.78.  "Any time a freshman places in the top 100 in a regional meet it is great to see, Lacey did well," said Sparks.   Eileen Schweiss was the next finisher for the Salukis placing 115th with a time of 23:16.33. Tori Parry placed 150th with a time of 23:53.79. Sarah McIntosh completed the roster for SIU placing 153rd.