GREAT LAKES REGIONAL ...
CLEVELAND, OH (November 10th, 2007) -
The 29th ranked Case Western Reserve University men’s cross country team finished eighth out of 38 schools at the Great Lakes Regional in the Gainey Athletic Complex at Calvin College.
Calvin College finished first overall with 27 points, Ohio Northern was second with 114 points and finishing in third was Anderson (IN) with 125 points.
The Spartans, who are ranked fifth in the Great Lakes Region, finished just behind Tri-State University with 193 points.
Junior Dominic Smith (New Richmond, OH) led the Spartans with an eighth place finish at 25:12.12, junior captain Mike Petro (Cincinnati, OH) came in 26th with a time of 25:43 and junior Austin Schmidt (Lexington, OH) placed 37th with a time of 25:59.10. Junior Ryan Gjoraas (Plymouth, MN) was 40th at 26:00.95.
Smith qualified for the national meet next week in Minnesota and the Spartans will await tomorrow’s NCAA news conference at 3:00 p.m. to find out if another Case student-athlete qualified for the national meet.
Head coach Kathy Lanese was very pleased with her team’s effort this afternoon.
“I’m so proud of these guys, I really am,” said Lanese. “A lot of good happened out on the course. We broke several personal records and had two all-region runners (Smith and Petro), we’ve got to focus on all the great things that happened today and keep focusing on the positives. The competition was simply more than we bargained for.”
Getting to nationals is no easy task for cross country programs that do not finish in first or second as a team at nationals. Only 16 teams automatically qualify (two per region) for a trip to Minnesota. Then, 16 at-large teams are selected based on; regional placing, late-season performance, head to head competition, gap times amongst runners within teams at regional’s, regional meet results and late-season meet results. When all is said and done, 56 student-athletes will automatically qualify (seven per region).
Dominic Smith will travel to Minnesota to compete in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championships next Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Results
Individual Results
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