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PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – Trophy hunting season is officially underway Saturday as 281 runners line up for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.
Ursuline College serves as host for the 2019 event, which will be conducted at the Laurel School-Butler Campus.
The conference championship starts the postseason for Great Midwest schools as they push for regionals in Evansville, Ind., and ultimately, a possible bid to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
The men’s 8K race will start at 10:30 AM ET and the women’s 6K competition will follow at 11:30 AM ET. The awards ceremony will recognize the all-conference team and individual award winners for the 2019 season.
“Each year, the Midwest Region is one of the strongest regions in the country and the top-tier talent around Division II will be on display this Saturday,” said Ursuline head coach Alaric Best on his UrsulineArrows.com preview podcast. “In order to help grow the sport, we would like our spectators to have a chance to see our student-athletes perform at a high level.”
Without a designated cross country championship course for Ursuline, the Arrows considered a numbered of facilities in the surrounding area since they were tabbed to host in the alphabetical rotation.
Coach Best was able to plan this weekend’s course from scratch – how to make it spectator friendly, where the turns are, how to open the course, etc.
As of now, the fall weather for Northeast Ohio on Saturday will be hovering around 50 degrees with a slight chance of rain. Walsh is presumed the favorites based on the preseason coaches poll and the current national rankings, but teams are hungry to prove otherwise as they bring their best.
The depth of the Great Midwest continues to be strong for both genders at the national and regional levels. The Walsh men are ranked 23rd in most recent USTFCCCA Poll while in the women’s poll, Hillsdale is top 10, Walsh is at No. 13 and Malone is sitting at No. 23, going into the conference meet.
In general, the needle hasn’t moved much in the Midwest Region rankings. Three teams are regionally ranked in the men’s side with Walsh at No. 4 followed by Malone and Cedarville stacked at No. 8 and 9.
Four teams are in the Midwest Region rankings for the women including No. 2 Hilllsdale, No. 4 Walsh, No. 8 Malone and No. 10 Cedarville.
A few student-athletes to track include Malone’s redshirt senior Hannah Thompson, who has been athlete of the week for three different times this fall already. Thompson’s most notable feat may have been when she broke the conference 5K record, previously held by Walsh’s Sarah Berger.
Hillsdale’s team depth is one reason the Chargers have placed very well at the NCAA Championships the previous two seasons as conference members. Former freshman of the year Maryssa Depies, Arena Lewis and Christina Sawyer, are as tested as anyone. Sophomore Sophia Maeda has had a great second season that included athlete of the week status.
Similar in status, Walsh gets it done by committee and in pack style. Last year’s top conference championship finisher Brianna Coy, graduated, but Bre Bakan, Alexa Leppelmeier and Andra Lehotay with others are all back to try and defend the Cavaliers’ team title.
The Chargers also have reigning DII All-American Joseph Humes as a favorite on paper to win the men’s 8K distance. Malone was last year’s champion and has aspirations to defend; Zach Fresenko is also a previous conference freshman of the year and sophomore Lucas Clark is in contention for all-conference honors.
Twelve teams from the men’s side and 13 schools in the women’s field will be vying for this year’s conference championship and individual honors.
Live results of the Great Midwest Cross Country Championships will be provided; there will not be a video stream of this year’s meet.