UW-Oshkosh To Host 11th NCAA Cross Country Regional
Eleven nationally ranked teams will be among the programs competing for titles at Saturday’s (Nov. 16) NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships in Winneconne.
The 8,000-meter men’s race begins at 11 a.m. and the women’s 6,000-meter competition at noon from the Lake Breeze Golf Club. Each race is expected to feature nearly 275 runners from approximately 40 programs.
The top two teams in each gender will secure automatic berths into the NCAA Division III Championships that will be held next Saturday (Nov. 23) at the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Sixteen other at-large bids will be awarded from the nation's eight total regions. The top seven individual finishers from each region not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championships.
Defending national and Midwest Regional champion North Central College (Ill.) enters Saturday’s men’s meet as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's top-ranked team in the nation. The Cardinals won last year's Midwest Regional with 30 points before going on to win its division-record 19th national title with 43. North Central College has also won the Midwest Regional a record 30 times.
Also representing the nation's elite Saturday at the Lake Breeze Golf Club are eighth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.), 10th-ranked University of Chicago (Ill.), 13th-ranked UW-La Crosse, 31st-ranked UW-Stout and 33rd-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
Following North Central College in last year's 35-team Midwest Regional standings were second-place UW-La Crosse with 74 points, third-place Washington University in St. Louis with 87, fourth-place UW-Eau Claire with 147 and fifth-place UW-Stout with 164.
UW-La Crosse has won six men's Midwest Regional titles, UW-Oshkosh four and UW-Eau Claire one since the event began in 1978. The Titans captured their regional crowns in 1989, 1996, 2002 and 2003.
UW-La Crosse’s Josh Schraeder is the top returning runner from last year’s Midwest Regional. Schraeder finished fourth at both the Midwest Regional and Division III Championship a year ago. Also back are ninth-place Matt Osmulski of North Central College and 10th-place Tyler Nault of UW-La Crosse from last year’s regional. Nault was an 11th-place finisher at the national championship a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh, which finished eighth at last year’s Midwest Regional with 231 points, is expected to be led Saturday by Cody Chadwick, Steven Potter, Joe Kehoe, Andrew George and Andrew Rathkamp. Chadwick placed eighth, Potter 13th, Kehoe 27th, George 29th and Rathkamp 38th at the WIAC Championship held Nov. 2 in Cuba City.
Headlining Saturday’s women’s field is second-ranked Washington University in St. Louis. The Bears captured last year’s Midwest Regional title with 58 points before going on to win the Division III championship with 98.
Other nationally ranked teams competing Saturday at the Lake Breeze Golf Club are seventh-ranked University of Chicago, 11th-ranked UW-Eau Claire, 15th-ranked UW-La Crosse and 29th-ranked Wheaton College (Ill.).
Trailing Washington University in St. Louis in last year’s 36-team Midwest Regional listings were second-place and 2017 Midwest Regional champion UW-Eau Claire with 93 points, third-place UW-La Crosse with 101, fourth-place University of Chicago with 118 and fifth-place Wheaton College with 147.
Just seven women’s programs have won Midwest Regional titles since the event began in 1981. UW-Oshkosh has won the regional 14 times, Washington University in St. Louis nine, UW-La Crosse six, UW-Eau Claire five, UW-Stevens Point two, and Central College (Iowa) and University of Chicago one apiece. The Titans claimed their regional titles in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Defending national champion Paige Lawler of Washington University in St. Louis is the top returning runner from last year’s Midwest Regional. Lawler finished second at the Midwest Regional before running to her national title. Also back are sixth-place Sophie Watterson from Washington University in St. Louis and 10th-place Sophie Elgamal from University of Chicago from last year’s regional. Watterson was a 13th-place finisher at the national championship a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh is expected to be paced Saturday on the women’s side by Ashton Keene, Amanda Van Den Plas, Hannah Lohrenz, Meygan Benzing and Alexandria Demco. Keene finished 13th, Van Den Plas 20th, Lohrenz 21st, Benzing 28th and Demco 33rd at the WIAC Championship held earlier this month.
The Lake Breeze Golf Club was the host facility for the NCAA Division III Championships in 1999, 2011, 2015 and 2018 and the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional in 1997, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016. UW-Oshkosh also hosted the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional at the Westhaven Golf Club (Oshkosh) in 1989, 1991 and 1993 and the Far Vu Golf Course (Oshkosh) in 1995.
2019 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships Program
2019 NCAA Division III Cross Country Midwest Regional Website