Tiger Cross Country Teams Post Best-Ever Regional Finishes

SHELBYVILLE, IN - On a chilly fall morning optimal for fast running, Wittenberg's women's and men's cross country teams posted the best finishes at the annual NCAA DIII Great Lakes Championships in program history. The Tiger women finished fourth as a team, scoring a total of 165 points, while the Tiger men also earned a top-10 finish, placing seventh with 243 team points.

The fourth-place finish for the women puts the Tigers squarely on the bubble to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships. Thirty-two teams per gender will be selected for the championships - 10 teams per gender qualify automatically qualify by winning a regional championship, leaving the remaining 22 sports in both the men's and women's championships to be selected at-large based on regional finishes. The selections will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 17.

On the women's side, senior Megan Keys (Dublin, OH/Jerome) led the Tigers, finishing 14^th with a time of 22:24.49. Teammate Maddi Clark (Mentor, OH/Mentor) also earned a top-20 finish, placing 17^th with a time 22:35.20. Emma Hawk (Marion, OH/River Valley) was close behind with a 27th-place finish with a time of 22:48.66. Keys, Clark, and Hawk all earned All-Great Lakes Region honors for their outstanding performances.

Mackenzie Kelly (Altoona, PA/Altoona Area) and Alex Couch (Howard, OH/Mount Vernon) also had strong outings on the afternoon, finishing 40^th and 72^nd respectively.

For the Wittenberg men, senior Conor Kolka (Dexter, MI/Dexter) paced the squad with a sixth-place finish with a time of 24:57.54. That finish will most likely earn Kolka a spot in his second straight NCAA Division III National Championship meet, which will take place Saturday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind. In 2023, Kolka finished 145th at the championship meet after becoming just the fourth runner in program history to qualify for the national meet.

Freshman Brandon Anderson (Dexter, MI/Dexter) also continued his tremendous inaugural collegiate season, placing 34^th with a time of 25:49.54. Both Kolka and Anderson recorded finishes that earned them spots on the All-Great Lakes Region team. Kolka's performance makes him Wittenberg's first-ever four-time All-Great Lake Region performer.

Lukas Rieben (Clayton, OH/Northmont), Lucas Eisele (Dayton, OH/West Carrollton) and Adam Arndt (Connersville, IN/Connersville) rounded out the field for Wittenberg as they placed 53^rd, 59^th, and 91^st respectively.