USTFCCCA Championships Central Page


HILLSDALE, MI – With Hillsdale College serving as host, a total of 34 schools from across three conferences will descend on Hayden Park for the NCAA DII Championships Midwest Regional 10K (men) and 6K (women) races on Saturday.   
 
For the second straight year, a Great Midwest Athletic Conference institution will host one of the largest meets of the season (Cedarville hosted in 2017) as runners compete to advance one more step in the postseason to the national stage.
 
Teams from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) will all compete for a shot to go to the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championships held at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
In the women’s competition, the team to watch is the Great Midwest champion Walsh Cavaliers led by conference runner of the year, senior Brianna Coy. The Hillsdale Chargers will also be looking for a strong showing on their home turf behind conference meet runner-up and 2017 league freshman of the year Maryssa Depies.
 
Both Walsh and Hillsdale have been regionally and nationally ranked as a program by the USTFCCCA for the duration of the season.
 
On the men’s side, the team to beat will be the conference champ Malone Pioneers led by two-time Great Midwest Runner of the Year George McCartney.
 
Walsh qualified for nationals as a team last season as Jacob Kernell was the men’s top finisher from the league. Hillsdale’s Joseph Humes has already broken the 8K and 5K records this season; this is a big opportunity for the junior to make a dent further in the record books with a 10K standard.
 
To qualify for the national championship competition, teams must finish in the top 3 of their regional for automatic qualification. The remaining teams will have to compete for 10 national at-large bids which are handed out based performance in one’s regional, head-to-head matchups with other at-large hopefuls and regular season performance overall.
 
On an individual basis, runners must either be on a nationally-qualifying team or they can earn individual automatic qualifications with a top-five finish to go to nationals. Runners are also eligible for individual at-large bids with a top 8 finish in their regional race.
 
The NCAA DII Midwest Regional will begin with the men’s 10K race starting at 10:30 AM ET and the women’s 6K race will follow at 11:45 AM ET on Saturday. Race results can be followed live at www.onthemarktiming.com.