Vikings Partake in Region Championship

 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran men's and women's cross country teams took part in the 2016 NCAA Division III Cross Country Central Region Championship on Saturday at Carleton College. The women's team finished the event in 24^th place while the men ranked 28^th.

Complete results:
Women's Race
Men's Race
 
How to Qualify for NCAA Championships: There are eight NCAA Region Championship meets taking place this weekend. The top two finishing teams in each region championship will automatically qualify for next week's NCAA Division III Championships.  After that a total of 16 at-large teams will be determined based on region finishes as the primary criteria and then late season success and overall season performance. Once all of the teams are determined, 56 individuals will qualify based on the top seven individual finishers from each region from non-qualifying teams.
 
In their last competition, the Bethany women's cross country team finished third at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championship while the men's team finished  seventh overall.
 
Bethany Women's Results at Central Region:
(40) Megan Sauer – 23:26.5
(127) Morgan Sauer – 25:03.8
(144) Kirsten Elyea – 25:25.6
(171) Jemimah Cordes – 26:24.8
(201) Brianna Soutthivong – 28:35.4

Head Coach Michael Dunn concluded the meet with this, "Our women had a great day today overall. During the race, our women were in 14^th place overall before one of our athletes went down with an injury. The team did very well to finish in the top 25 and conclude their season with an amazing effort. With only one senior on the team, we expect to be ready to do well next year. Megan Sauer finished 40^th overall and had a great race. The coaching staff is so proud of her efforts this year and throughout her career, she is a great leader. This team feeds off her passion and efforts, and we look forward to watching the other athletes step-up in carrying that torch."

Bethany Men's Results at Central Region:
(173) Zach Dantzman – 29:47.8
(177) David Luehring – 29:53.5
(179) Stefan Prince – 29:55.7
(184) Lucas Malimanek – 30:34.3
(187) Nathan Birr – 30:43.1
(206) Jake Stratten – 33:55.0

"The men ran hard today and left everything on the course. Overall the athletes had great performances and will definitely be proud of how their season, and some careers ended," stated Dunn. "It was nice to see them competing and maintaining contact with the field, the entire program is going to miss the athletes that ran their last race this year, and the returning team will most definitely be ready to continue to raise the bar of our program."
 
Last Year at the NCAA Central Region Championship:
The women's team finished 19^th out of 30 teams while the men's team finished in 26^th place with 29 teams competing.
 
Looking Ahead: 
The team and individual qualifiers for the NCAA Division III National Championships will be posted by noon on NCAA.com on Sunday. The NCAA Championships will then take place next Saturday, November 19 at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

To stay current with Vikings athletics, continue to visit www.blcvikings.com and follow @BLCvikings on Twitter. MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Lucas Herd at 507-344-7856 or email lucas.herd@blc.edu.