Women's XC Qualifies for NCAA's, Men Place Fourth at Midwest Regional

MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS

Rock Island, Ill., November 13, 2010 – The Washington University in St. Louis women’s cross country team finished second and the men came in fourth at the 2010 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill.

With its second-place finish at the NCAA regional meet, the Washington University women’s team has qualified to compete at next week’s NCAA Division III Championship. Placing in the top five at the competitive Midwest regional, the WUSTL men’s team put itself in a strong position to grab an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship when the complete race field is announced on Sunday, Nov. 14.

This year’s NCAA Championship meet is hosted by Wartburg College and takes place on Saturday, Nov. 20, at the H.J. Max Championship Course in Waverly, Iowa. The men’s 8K will get underway at 11 a.m., with the women’s 6K championship to follow at 12 p.m.

The Washington University women’s team placed 10th at last year’s NCAA meet, and the men’s team came in seventh. The Washington U. women will be competing at the NCAA meet for the seventh year in a row, while the men’s team is hoping to gain back-to-back bids to the NCAA’s for the first time in program history.

Junior Liz Phillips paced the Washington U. women’s team to its second-place finish on Saturday, coming in sixth overall in a field of 263 runners with a time of 21:42.5. The Bears compiled a team score of 93 points, finishing just eight points behind defending national champion University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (98 points), University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (122 points) and the University of Chicago (133 points) rounded out the top-five finishers in the 38-team women’s field. Chicago’s Liz Lawton won the individual title with a time of 20:57.2.

Senior Dave Spandorfer and junior Michael Burnstein were neck and neck to lead the men’s team, finishing 11th and 12th respectively in a race with 275 competitors. Spandorfer crossed the finish line in 24:27.8, while Burnstein finished just 2.9 seconds later.

Defending national champion North Central College submitted a team score of 37 points to win the men’s race by a 49-point margin over second place University of Wisconsin-Platteville. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (114 points), Washington U. (122 points) and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (173 points) rounded out the men’s top-five.

In addition to Phillips, the women’s squad had three other runners garner NCAA All-Midwest Region honors on Saturday. Senior Taryn Surtees finished ninth with a time of 21:48.7, senior Jessica Londeree came in 13th with a mark of 21:52.7 and freshman Sarah Fisher placed 16th with a time of 22:08.5. Also scoring for the Red and Green was junior Molly Wawrzyniak, who came in 49th with a time of 22:52.2

Washington University’s men’s team also placed four runners on the NCAA All-Region team. In addition to Spandorfer and Burnstein, sophomore David Hamm garnered All-Region accolades with a 26th-place finish and a time of 24:47.0, while junior Tucker Hartley came in 35th, finishing in 24:57.5. Senior Alden Black was the fifth scorer for the Bears, coming in 38th in 25:03.4.