Iowa NCAA Midwest Regional Information
Eastern Illinois men's and women's cross country will compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional this Friday as the Ashton Cross Country Course in Iowa City, Iowa. The women's 6K event will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the men's 10K race at 12 p.m.
Both Panther teams are coming off of fourth place finishes at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships that took place on Oct. 29 in Nashville. At the OVC meet
Ruth Garippo and
Maria Baldwin both earned second team All-OVC honors during the 5K competition. On the men's side
Paxson Menard earned first team All-OVC honors at the conference championships with
Riley McInerney collecting second team All-OVC honors.
At the OVC Championships Garippo had a time of 17:38 which ranks as the fourth best 5K time in school history. Earlier this season in a 6K race at Bradley, Garippo set the school record for the 6K distance finishing with a time of 21:24.
Emily Brelsfoard,
Maria Baldwin and
Ivy Handley follow Garippo on the career top times list at the 6K distance with all three of times set during various times of their careers. Garippo, Brelsfoard, Baldwin and Handley will be joined by
Sadie Elliott,
Rachel Garippo,
Julie James and
Jocelyne Mendoza on the Panthers NCAA roster. Last season EIU placed 21st at the NCAA Regional with Baldwin the top EIU finisher in 67th place. The women's field will consist of competitors from 36 schools in the region.
The men's team enters the NCAA Regional ranked No. 15 in the Midwest by the USTFCCCA. The Panthers will be competing at the 10K distance for the first time this season. Last year McInerney earned All-Region honors as he placed 24th leading the team to a 13th place finish. At the Regional Menard placed 52nd with Yunk finishing 83rd to give the Panthers three runners in the top 100. McInerney and Menard will be joined at this year's NCAA Regional by teammates
Tyler Yunk,
Juan Barajas,
Michael Mest,
Chris Orlow,
Robby Prescott and
Marcus Skinner. The men's field will consist of competitors from 33 schools in the region.
