Returnees Dominate D-Iii Race North Central Chases Men’S 4-Peat; Calvin Women Defend
The status quo is here to challenge the status quo during today’s NCAA Division III Cross Country championships at Wandermere Golf Course.
Eight of last year’s top nine placing teams and 14 of 24 entrants return to try and overtake three-time men’s champion North Central College.
Five of the top six placers and 11 of 24 total are back to test two-time women’s champion Calvin College.
Also back are the top 10 finishing non-seniors from last year’s men’s race, led by North Central senior Tim McCoskey, third at last year’s meet.
McCoskey will run just his third competition since undergoing surgery for a strangulated hernia.
The hernia was diagnosed when the Cardinals came here for the pre-NCAA meet on Sept. 30. He underwent surgery on Oct. 4 and resumed racing Oct. 28, winning successive conference and regional meets.
North Central is ranked third nationally behind Calvin College, which won the Great Lakes Regional with 22 points, by having five of the top nine placers. Dan Hoekstra, Joel Klooster and Justin Momany-Pfruender finished first through third.
Second-ranked Keene State won the New England Regional over Williams College on a one-two effort by Wilson Perez and Mark Miller. The team has been bolstered by Denison College transfer Joseph Dunham, 20th at nationals last year.
Other expected contenders are Nebraska Wesleyan and lead runner Thor Ebsensen, fourth at last year’s nationals, and a quartet of Wisconsin schools from the tough North Central-led Midwest Regional.
Defending women’s champion Calvin College is ranked second nationally. The Knights won their region by placing six runners in the top 15, led by race runner-up Sarah Gritter, one of four national returnees. Calvin is coached by two-time national USTA coach of the year Nancy Meyer.
Middlebury College and Williams College were separated by one-point in their New England regional and are ranked first and third nationally. Williams is led by South Whidbey High graduate Joey Shapiro.
NCAA DIVISION III
Cross country championships
Site: Wandermere Golf Course
Date: Saturday, Nov. 18
Time: Men’s race, 8,000 meters, 11 a.m. Women’s race, 5,000 meters, noon.
Format: 24 mens and 24 women’s teams, plus 47 individuals in each.
Men’s Individual regional winners: Eamon O’Brien, jr., (College of New Jersey); Wilson Perez, sr., (Keene State); J.B. Haglund, jr., (Haverford); Dan Hoekstra, jr., (Calvin); Thor Esbensen, sr., (Nebraska Wesleyan); Tim McCoskey, sr., (North Central); George McCleary, jr., (Emory); Eli Klovee-Smith, sr., (Claremont).
Women’s regional winners: Jen Rettke, soph., (SUNY-Geneseo); Barbara Swallow, sr., (Springfield); Heidi Wolfsberger, jr., (Moravian); Jenni Markanich, sr., (Elmhurst); Lisa Nicholson, fr., (Anderson); Johanna Olson (Luther); Sarah Byrd, jr., (Emory); Lia Ossiander, soph., (PLU).