Harriers Finish In the Middle of the Pack at Regionals

Matt Linman finished 32nd out of 211 runners at the Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships this weekend.

The College of Wooster men's and women's cross-country teams finished right in the middle of the team standings at the Division III Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships hosted by Alma College today. The men finished the day 15th out of 30 teams with two individual runners placing in the top-50, while the women came in 13th out of 26, placing three runners in the top-50.

Calvin College continued its dominance on the men's side, placing all its runners in the top-20 and four in the top-10 to take the team title with 33 total points, while Mike Sawicki of Otterbein College was the meet's individual winner, finishing with a time of 24:08.4. Both Calvin and the second-place team, DePauw University, qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships to be held at Eau Claire, Wisc. on Nov. 20.

Leading the way for Wooster's men's squad were senior Matt Linman and junior Taylor Delhagen as the two cruised over the finish line in 32nd (25:38.2) and 34th (25:39.7) place out of 211 runners. Closing out his senior year, Charlie Van Gombos was the only other Scot place in the top-100, coming in 83rd with a time of 26:45.1. Junior Colin Turner and sophomore Zac Patterson were Wooster's other top finishers, as the two crossed the finish line in 116th (27:17.8) and 138th (27:46.5) place.

On the women's side, Denison University won the team title, placing five runners in the top-50 led by Elaine Binkley and Christine Collins in 5th (21:49.1) and 6th (21:58.0) place, respectively. Denison and DePauw, who beat out Kenyon College for second, will represent the Great Lakes Region in Wisconsin next weekend. Shannon McConville of John Carroll University took home the individual title, crossing the finish line in a time of 21:31.3.

Five Scots finished among the top-100, led by sophomore Katie Wiefrich who finished in 36th place with a time of 22:49.3. Senior Erin Jacob and junior Tiffany White finished among the top-50, coming in 42nd (23:03.9) and 45th (23:05.4) place, respectively, while senior Erin Herl (90th - 24:05.3) and freshman Nicole Calderone (91st - 24:08.3) rounded out the Scots' top-finishers.