November 11, 2009

CROSS COUNTRY

Muhlenburg College hosts the cross country regionals at Lehigh University on Saturday, November 14. The men's race is at 11 AM followed by the women at Noon. Two teams from each region automatically qualify for nationals and the NCAA committee then awards 16 at-large spots to the other best teams. Seven individuals also qualify out of each region - they are selected from the top competitors after the team qualifiers are removed. In the region, Elizabethtown's women are ranked sixth and the Messiah women seventh; based on the rankings, they will be competing against these top ranked teams: Johns Hopkins, Dickinson, Haverford, Grove City, and Gettysburg. MAC women challenging for individual spots are conference champion Megan VanDerHensel, a Senior from Elizabethtown, conference runner-up Caitlin Dorgan, a Junior from Delaware Valley, and third place finisher, Jenn Cronin, a Junior from Lebanon Valley. For the men, Elizabethtown is ranked 31st nationally and fifth regionally and Messiah is eighth in the region. Alleghany, Dickinson, Carnegie Mellon, and Haverford all are ahead of the Blue Jays. MAC champion Tyler Newhook, a Sophomore from Messiah, conference runner-up Eric Reichart, a Sophomore from Elizabethtown, and third place finisher Jeffrey Smeiles, a Senior from Messiah, will be competing for individual sports if their teams don't qualify.