Four Pioneers Qualify to NCAA Nationals
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Zach Lee, Walker Ryne, Johanna Meister, and Katie Wardinski were named individual qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Sunday.All four Pioneers earned All-Region honors for their finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday.
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Zach Lee, Walker Ryne, Johanna Meister, and Katie Wardinski were named individual qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Sunday. All four Pioneers earned All-Region honors for their finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday.
Lee and Rynes finished 4th and 6th place in the 8,000m race. Their times of 23:43 and 23:49 are the second and third fastest times in school history. This marks the first year UW-Platteville has had two runners finish in the top-6 at the NCAA Regional meet. The two highest finishing pair prior to this was when Corey Stelljes and Ryan Kleimenhagen finished 6th and 7th in 2001. That year they went on to earn All-American honors finishing 9th and 17th at the NCAA National meet.
Meister and Wardinski finished 11th and 15th in the 6,000m race to earn All-Region honors. Their times of 21:20 and 21:26 make them the second and fifth fastest women in Pioneer history over that distance.
This will be the first NCAA National appearance for all four Pioneers. Principia College will host the NCAA Championships this Saturday, November 18th. The gun will go off at 11am for the men's championship race and the women will follow with a 12:15pm start time.
More information can be found at the NCAA Championship website.
