2015 Cross Country NCAA D-III Championships Regionals Preview
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's and women's cross country teams compete on Saturday, Nov. 14 at the NCAA Division III West Regional on Pomona College's campus in Claremont, Calif. The top two teams for each gender will automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, which will take place in Winneconne, Wisc. on Nov. 21. Both CMS teams are looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the eighth year in a row. The regional takes place on Saturday, Nov. 14. The women race first at 9 a.m. followed by the men at 10 a.m. Complete information about the regional can be found on the regional website.
The Stags are the top-ranked team in the region after a comfortable win at the SCIAC Championships two weeks ago. At the conference meet, the Stags took the conference title with a score of 29, 15 points over second-place Pomona-Pitzer, who are now ranked third in the region and 25th nationally. Willamette University moved into second in the region after winning the Northwest Conference title by a score of 31-77 over Puget Sound. Last year at the West Regional meet, CMS bested Pomona-Pitzer in a tight team battle, winning 46-52. CMS went on to finish 15th at the NCAA Championships and as the top team from the West Region.
CMS is led once again by senior Zorg Loustalet (HMC) who finished as the runner-up at the SCIAC Championship for the second year in a row. Loustalet is the top returner from last year's regional meet where he also finished as the runner-up, his third top-3 finish at regionals throughout his career, including a first place finish his freshman year. Senior Jack Wilson (CMC) - 11th place at regionals last year - and sophomore Hunter Olsen (CMC) are the other returners for the Stags. CMS placed all of their scoring five in the top-10 at the SCIAC Championships this season, and their entire top-7 in the top 18 places, and look to replicate that depth this weekend. Senior Evan Molineux (CMC), juniors Kyle Lund (HMC) and Joshua Sealand (HMC) and Wilson all joined Loustalet in earning first team All-SCIAC honors. CMS exhibited their depth by placing their next five runners - led by senior Jacob Higle-Ralbovsky (HMC) and sophomore Kevin Huang (HMC) - in a 14-second span that earned them four more second team All-SCIAC honors. Five of last year's top-10 individuals in the region return for this year's race.
The Athenas are also the top-ranked team in the region and easily won the SCIAC Championships two weeks ago with a score of 27-60 over West Region No. 5 Redlands. Whitworth is the No. 2 team in the region after upsetting Willamette at the Northwest Conference Championships by a score of 31-46. The trio of CMS, Whitworth and Willamette are nationally-ranked in the top-11, boasting the No. 7, No. 9 and No. 11 spots, respectively. Last year, Willamette won the regional with 31 points followed by CMS with 54. CMS went on to finish 10th at the NCAA Championships and as the top team from the West Region.
The women are led by senior Bridget Blum (CMC). She earned her second, first team All-SCIAC honor at the SCIAC Championships and looks to replicate the regional success she had her freshman year, when she placed third. The Athenas return three runners from last year's second place finish, and are coming off of a conference meet in which they placed all seven of their runners in the top-11 spots - including four of the top six - at the SCIAC Championships.
Juniors Jen Lehr (SCR), Caroline Willian (CMC) and Carmen Mejia (SCR) joined Blum in earning first team All-SCIAC honors, as did sophomores Roselyn Cantu (CMC) and Laura Broderick (SCR). Junior Rachel Mow (HMC) followed closely for CMS, garnering second team All-SCIAC honors and putting the finishing touches on a one minute split for the Athenas' top-7 runners. Seven of last year's top-10 individuals in the region return for this year's race.
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