HILLSDALE, Mich. — The Saginaw Valley State men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division II Midwest Region Cross Country Championships being held this Saturday (Nov. 17) at Hayden Park in Hillsdale, Mich.
The Midwest Regional will consists of a total 78 cross country programs from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The men's 10K race is set to start at 10:30 a.m., while the women's 6k will follow at approximately 11:45 a.m. The event will be hosted by Hillsdale College at Hayden Park.
The top three teams from each race in the regional will advance to the NCAA II National Championships, which are Dec. 1 in Slippery Rock, Pa.
Also, in addition to the top three qualifying teams, the top two individuals that are not on a qualifying team will advance to the national meet. Qualifying individuals also include any competitors in the top five that are not on a qualifying team. Ten other teams will be selected at-large from across the country to advance on by the D2 Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee.
Nine different states will be in attendance for the meet, including schools from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Last year, the SVSU men's team competed well for the Cardinals in the Midwest Regionals, but was unable to find their way into the national championships. Former Cardinals Timmy Kimball placed 19th, the top spot for the Cards, running a 31:56.5. Following Kimball was now senior runner Parker Eisengruber, running a 32:01.4.
The women's team finished ninth last year in the regional meet, with Morgan Fuerst running a 22:33.9, finishing 31st.
For this race, the Cardinals are looking to be led by senior runners Allison Dorr, who finished sixth at the GLIAC Championships, and Tom Goforth, who notched a third place finish overall.
Overall, the men finished second behind GVSU in the GLIAC Championships, while the women finished third.
For more information, directions and course maps, please click here.
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