NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Results

Winneconne, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's cross country squad finished fifth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Midwest Regional Saturday afternoon at Lake Breeze Golf Course. The Eagles totaled 162 team points to finish fifth while UW-Eau Claire won the regional title with 67. The University of Chicago (Ill.) was second with 99 points. UW-Eau Claire and Chicago (Ill.) each earned automatic bids to the NCAA Division III Championships November 17.

Illinois Wesleyan finished third Saturday (142 points) and UW-Oshkosh was fourth (153) followed by UW-L (162), Washington University, Mo. (206), Monmouth College, Ill. (279), UW-River Falls (317), Augustana College, Ill. (347) and St. Norbert College, Wis. (353) to round-out the top-10. A total of 40 teams competed. 

The at-large bids to the national championships will be announced Sunday, November 11. 

Corissa Conard was UW-L's top finisher Saturday, placing 12th overall with a time of 22:17.68 on the 6,000-meter course. The Eagles' Natalie Powell was 15th (22:23.35) and Rachel Schroeder finished 35th (22:46.64). 

Conard, Powell and Schroeder each earned NCAA III All-Region honors.

UW-L's Megan Stats-Wagner was 46th (23:05.29), Rebecca Zych placed 54th (23:07.34), Abby Gustafson was 69th (23:21.54) and Ellen Smith finished 72nd (23:23.79). 

Christy Cazzola of UW-Oshkosh won the individual title with a time of 20:51.83. A total of 276 runners competed. 

UW-L will await word to see if it has earned an at-large bid to the national championships.

"I'm not sure what is going to happen with the selections but I couldn't be more proud of our effort," said UW-L first-year head coach Derek Stanley. "To be in the talk of qualifying was our objective and we accomplished that. Now we just need to have faith we did enough. These women have come a long way this year and to see them in this position makes me happy for them.

"This is a proud day for the Eagles' cross country program, the department, the parents, the alumni and other supporters," added Stanley. "Bringing these two programs together has enabled both to achieve a high level of success."