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INDIANAPOLIS – The famed Elvin R. King Course housed at Cedarville University is set to host over 450 student-athlete runners entered to compete in the 2021 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.
The postseason is a long one in this sport, which features multiple regionally and nationally ranked programs from the USTFCCCA, that will be in both races.
The men’s 8K event will start at 9:30 a.m. ET and the women’s competition will follow with the gun going off around 10:30 a.m. ET. The awards ceremony will follow with the top 20 place winners being honored for all-conference awards.
Individual awards will also be presented including the coach of the year, runner of the year, freshman of the year and the Elite 25, which is presented to the male and female student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA (at least sophomore classification).
Both races at the championship meet will be streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network courtesy of the host Yellow Jackets.
Following the conclusion of the Great Midwest Cross Country Championships, student-athletes will begin preparation for the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Nov. 6-7, returning back to Evansville, Ind., at Angel Mounds before qualifiers, individual and team, will travel to Florida for the NCAA Championships at The Abbey Course hosted by Saint Leo University on Nov. 20.
Teams have been building up for this moment throughout the course of the season and the regional and national races for the men increase to the 10K distance in the next leg of the postseason while the women stay at 6K.
Men’s 8K Preview
Walsh and Cedarville are ranked fifth and ninth, respectively in the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Poll while the defending conference champion Cavaliers are back in the Top 25 nationally appearing at No. 23.
Head coach Rob Mizicko has had considerable success since his program joined the Great Midwest in 2017. The Cavaliers have been crowned conference champions in three of four opportunities, including last year’s meet in a COVID-riddled fall in Tiffin.
Last year’s conference meet runner-up Drew Roberts is back along with the 2020 freshman of the year Xavier Foehl. The addition of Indiana transfer Hunter Moore, who broke the conference 8K record, previously held by Hillsdale All-American Joseph Humes, at the Lock Haven Invitational (24:04.10), makes Walsh a favorite on paper.
Ashland joins the party this year and in the second week of the season, senior Nick Reimund earned the program’s first conference athlete of the week honor. Also keep an eye on Tiffin’s Nathaniel Ondracek, the top finisher at the Tiffelberg Open, and Findlay’s Noah Fisher, who set the school 8K record at the Royals Challenge recently.
Cedarville freshman Ethan Wallis was the most recent runner of the week with a fourth-place effort at the Wilmington Invitational.
Most teams have familiarity with the course at least once this year with several teams running in the All-Ohio Championships. Walsh’s Roberts was the meet runner-up in the men’s competition.
Women’s 6K Preview
Three teams are regionally ranked on the women’s side in the Midwest Region, one of the toughest in Division II top to bottom, and two of those programs are ranked in the USTFCCCA’s Top 25 coming into this weekend.
The host Yellow Jackets of Cedarville are ranked 16th nationally, fourth regionally and are looking to be on top of the podium for a team title for the first time since 2016. Senior Alayna Ackley has been the team’s top performer but several members of the roster have registered all-time top 25 5K performances this year including Savannah Ackley, Naomi Herman, Hannah Rhem and Bethany Sholl.
Walsh’s Alexa Leppelmeier has been a very familiar face as athlete of the week on multiple occasions. Her impressive fall includes the 11th-fastest conference 5K time at the Tommy Evans Invitational.
The Cavaliers are ranked 24th coming into the weekend and have been battling Hillsdale in recent history for top team honors. The Chargers have conference team championship trophies from 2017 and 2019 while Walsh had team wins in 2018 and 2020.
Malone’s two-time runner of the year Mackenna Curtis-Collins has been dominant on this stage. She owns three of the league’s best top 25 6K times, including the overall conference and meet record in 2019. Earlier this year, she staked her claim to the Great Midwest’s best 5K time in conference history with a blistering 16:59.50 at the Royals Challenge.
Lake Erie sophomore Raena Willet has been a very bright spot on an emergent Storm program while earning the school’s first athlete of the week award recently. She has broken the school record multiple times this fall.