Anderson Claims 26th in NCAA D-III Great Lakes Regional

The Anderson University women's cross country team claimed 26th place during Saturday's NCAA D-III Great Lakes Regional at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville.

Anderson put together the program's best finish in an NCAA Regional since 2016. The Ravens finished with a team score of 760.

Noelle Loller (Lapel, Ind. / Lapel) charged to 37th in the 266-runner field with a 6K time of 23 minutes, 5.3 seconds, breaking her PR by 31.6 seconds. The junior from Lapel missed the top-35 cut for United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) all-region honors by two spots.

Lydia Dyer (Harlan, Ind. / Woodlan) crossed the finish line in 88th with a time of 23:57.1, setting a 49.3-second PR. Callie Guthrie (Beavercreek, Ohio / Beavercreek) secured 211th with a PR of 27:09.9. Makayla Barbour (Valparaiso, Ind. / Chesterton) took 216th with a PR time of 27:17.3. Baileigh Stewart (Fishers, Ind. / Fishers) earned 216th (27:53.8). Jenna O'Donohue (Muncie, Ind. / Muncie Central) finished 246th with a time of 28:38.1 and a 49.8-second PR. Mariah Sanders (Lincoln, Ill. / Lincoln) placed 248th with a time of 28:43.7, setting a 44.6-second PR.

"Regionals went well for us," Coach Karis Johnson said. "The team got out there, competed and represented Anderson University well.We have a great support system behind us. I want to thank our assistant coaches, Athletic Director Marcie Taylor, our strength and conditioning coaches and everyone who contributed to having a successful season."

The NCAA D-III Championships is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Each of the 10 regional team winners will qualify for nationals along with 22 at-large team bids across the country. The top seven placing individuals from each regional not on a qualifying team will also qualify for nationals.

Hope College, ranked No. 10 in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA D-III poll, captured the regional title with a team score 98 points to automatically qualify for the national meet. Thirteenth-ranked Calvin University came in second with a team score of 121 points, finishing ahead of No. 23 John Carroll University (125), No. 25 Case Western Reserve University (164), (T-32) Trine University (181), No. 21 Allegheny College (183), Ohio Northern University (221), the University of Mount Union (229), DePauw University (296), Oberlin College (343), Centre College (345), Manchester University (371), The College of Wooster (386), Baldwin Wallace University (387), Kenyon College (401), Kalamazoo College (434), Franciscan University of Steubenville (441), Wittenberg University (487), Denison University (539) and Albion College (539), which rounds out the top 20 teams of the 37 teams in the team standings.

Trine's Evie Bultemeyer charged to a 35.9-second victory with a 6K time of 21:16.2. In addition to Bultmeyer, Hope's Anastasia Tucker (2nd – 21:52.1), Calvin's Sadie Heeringa (3rd – 22:02.8), Case Western Reserve's Jana Fisher (4th – 22:05.1), Ohio Northern's Tessa Pitcovich (5th – 22:08.1), Baldwin Wallace's Hope Murphy (6th – 22:12.5), Allegheny's Megan Aaron (7th – 22:12.7), Hope's Rebecca Markham (8th – 22:15.9) and Franciscan's Alison Bryant (9th – 22:17.6) have each automatically qualified for nationals.

At-large selections will be announced by the NCAA Selection Committee on Sunday at 11 a.m.