Washington U. Men’s Cross Country Places Third, Women Sixth at NCAA Division III Midwest Regional
RESULTS
Oshkosh, Wis., November 10, 2012 – Washington University in St. Louis junior Kevin Sparks and sophomore Lucy Cheadle each finished in the top-five individually to lead the men’s and women’s cross country teams to third- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships Saturday in Oshkosh, Wis.
The Washington University men scored 135 points to finish third out of 39 teams at the Regional. Defending NCAA Division III National Champion North Central College won the men’s Midwest Regional Championship for the fourth-straight year with 58 points. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse finished second with 114, while Washington U., Wheaton College (140) and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (145) rounded out the top-five teams. On the women’s side, Washington University finished sixth with 206 points. Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the women’s team title (67 points), while University of Chicago (99), Illinois Wesleyan University (142), University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (153) and Wisconsin-La Crosse finished second through fifth, respectively.
Sparks led five Washington University runners who finished in the top-45 of the 271-runner race. He clocked a time of 24:30.11 to place fifth overall in the 8K race. University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Tim Nelson won the men’s individual title with a time of 24:24.67. Senior David Hamm finished 16th with a season-best time of 24:57.32. Sophomores Garrett Patrick (25:15.07) and Andrew Padgett (25:21.10) also ran season-best times to finish in the top-40, placing 35th and 38th, respectively. Sophomore Ryan Senci finished the scoring for Washington U. by placing 41st with a time of 25:25.01. Sparks, Hamm and Patrick each earned All-Region honors by finishing in the top-35 individually.
All five scorers for the Washington University women ran season-best times in the 6K race. Cheadle earned All-Region honors after finishing as the individual runner-up with a time of 21:01.35 in the 276-runner race. Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Christy Cazzola defended her individual title at the Regional with a winning time of 20:51.83. Juniors Lizzy Handschy (22:55.05) and Elizabeth Worley (22:58.91) followed Cheadle in 41st and 42nd, respectively. Sophomore Beatrice Gantzer placed 59th with a time of 23:12.60, while junior Kathleen Valadez rounded out the scoring for Washington U. with a time of 23:15.35 for 62nd place.
Official qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championships will be announced Sunday in a press release on NCAA.com. The Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 17, at LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind.