KENOSHA, Wis. – Four Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) cross country teams finished in the top 10 during the 2022 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday, Nov. 19. Sixteen other GLVC programs competed in the 10,000-meter and 6,000-meter races.
The Illinois Springfield and Lewis men's cross country teams finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the men's race. With 130 points, the 21st-ranked Prairie Stars finished 72 points behind regional champion and third-ranked Grand Valley State, and 52 points ahead of 24th-ranked Lewis that secured 182 points. This is the best finish for UIS in program history.
Behind the Flyers was Missouri S&T (361 points) in 13th, followed by Drury University (474), Southwest Baptist University (494), University of Indianapolis (572), and Truman State University (577) one after the other, respectively, in 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. University of Missouri-St. Louis (626) was next in 22nd, while Maryville University (687) and Rockhurst University (777) rounded out the league contingent in 24th and 26th, respectively.
On the women's side, Southwest Bapist finished first among GLVC teams in fifth with 178 points, just ahead of seventh-place Lewis (203 points).
Behind the Flyers was Drury (294 points) in 11th, followed by UIndy (371) in 14th, Truman (484) in 18th, Missouri S&T (588) in 21st, Illinois Springfield (593) in 22nd, Rockhurst (717) in 24th, Maryville (798) in 27th, and Missour-St. Louis (859) in 29th.
The top-25 individual finishers were named All-Region honorees, and the GLVC had four in that group on the men's side with three from Illinois Springfield and one from Lewis. GLVC Champion and Runner of the Year, Wyatt McIntyre was the fastest Conference individual, finishing in ninth with a time of 31:05.13, which was ahead of Lewis' Charlie Wirth in 12th (31:32.40) and Prairie Stars' teammates Cortland Ross (31:34.26) in 13th and Christopher Cherry (31:50.40) in 23rd.
For the women, five runners earned that distinction. The top finisher was GLVC Champion and Runner of the Year Bradley Weimer of Drury, who placed eighth in a time of 21:48.16, while two from Southwest Baptist in Tess Valdivia (22:13.38 ) and Alexis Barber (22:14.40) finished 22nd and 24th, respectively. Additionally, GLVC runner-up Melissa Spencer (22:08.16) of UIndy finished 19th and Lewis' Anna Kozak (22:14.79) grabbed the last spot in 25th.
The top-three team finishers automatically qualify for the the NCAA Championships, which will take place Nov. 20 at the Abbey Course in Saint Leo, Florida, while the remaining schools will find out if they earned an at-large berth to the finals on Monday, Nov. 21 at 5 PM ET on NCAA.com.