Thiurd place result at Midwest REgional
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The No. 26 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men’s cross country team turned in a third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, scoring 141 points to earn the final automatic qualifier and punch their ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championships hosted in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 23. The women’s team placed 14th overall scoring 363 points.
The men’s team has now made it to the NCAA Cross Country Championships three of the last four years. Although, this is the first time that the Huskies earned the automatic qualifier with a third-place team finish.
Veteran Sam Lange and freshman Colman Lenci earned All-Region accolades, placing 12th and 23rd, respectively.
Quotable
“We’ve felt all season that earning a coveted auto qualifying spot was possible for the men’s team. The guys did an excellent job of running their own races today, moving through the field as the race progressed. I won’t lie, I was a tiny bit nervous when we were 12th at the first split mat, but by the time we were at halfway I knew we had something special cooking,” said Tech head coach Robert Young. “Colman Lenci had a significant breakthrough today and was a key piece of the team’s success. We are so excited this could be just the beginning for him.
“Sophia had the most unlucky thing I’ve ever seen happen, getting bitten just before the race started. Her guts to grind out a race of that quality given that challenge really speaks to her toughness. We’ve known Claire Endres was ready for a breakthrough from what we’ve seen improve. To have her do it in her first go at this stage was awesome to see. I’m really proud of the season our women put together. They’ve laid the foundation of something special and I expect we will only grow and improve from here.”
“Our men had a dramatic push in the later stages of the race. Hopefully, we can replicate that race plan and effort at nationals. The most notable performance on the men’s side was definitely from Colman Lenci he put himself in a position to make a big difference in our team scoring and earned himself all-region honors in the process,” assistant coach Luke Moore added. “Our women closed out their season today and I’m proud of the team that they’ve become. We’ve shown a lot of potential and growth this year, and I’m sure this relatively young team has a very bright future ahead of itself.
“Claire Endres found the race that she was looking for all season. She closed very hard in the latter stages of the race and made an excellent debut for her first regional championships. Despite being bit by a venomous bug on the starting line and having an allergic reaction, Sophia Rhein managed to be our number one runner and improve upon her finish from regional last year by over 25 places. She’s been a prime example of grit this whole season.”
Senior Sam Lange continued to make strides as the top-runner for the Black & Gold, showing out in his home state with an impressive 12th-place finish, averaging 5:02 pace for the 10k course for a time of 31:18.3. Colman Lenci, in his first cross country season for Michigan Tech, is proving to be a force, being just the second freshman in the race to earn All-Region accolades as Tech’s No. 2 runner clocking 31:40.9 in his first collegiate 10k race, taking 23rd overall.
Veteran Tucker Ringhand (31:46.6) and first-year transfer Michael Dennis (31:49) were valuable pieces in the third-place team finish, placing 29th and 31st, respectively. Callen Carrier (32:07.3) posted a personal-best for 10k on the grass as the fifth runner for the Huskies, also improving three spots from a season ago with his 46th-place finish.
Michael Marshall (32:29.8) and Zeb Swager (32:54.1) placed 65th and 87th, respectively, in the first regional meet of their careers.
Sophomore Sophia Rhein was the top-finisher for the women with her 33rd overall finish in 22:16.3. Three additional Huskies cracked the top-100 with Claire Endres claiming 64th in a new personal best time of 23:06.9. Veteran Cedar Gordon was close behind with her time of 23:11.1 good for 70th in the field. Ingrid Halverson placed 81st, crossing the finish line in 23:22.6. Sophomore Bridget Burns (23:50.6) rounded out the top-five with her 116th-place finish.
Freshmen Alex Li (23:59.7) and Erica Kazin (24:17.3) earned valuable experience in the championship race, placing 121st and 134th, respectively.
Up Next
The men of Michigan Tech return to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the third time in three years, traveling to Sacramento, California, on Nov. 23.
