The men's and women's Cross Country teams competed in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday with high goals set. Overall the men finished in 13th place out of 23 teams, with impressive finishes by a number of runners.
The women placed higher than the men, coming in 12th out of 27 teams. The Loyola women were the 2nd best team from Illinois, only being beaten by The University of Illinois, who finished second and qualified for Nationals.
The men were led by senior Ryan Kuphall who finished in 37th place with a time of 32:16.15. "I thought overall I ran a great personal race being able to stick with the front pack for the first 7k. So I will have high goals for next years race because I know I can stick with that front pack," Kuphall said. He also added that the team ran very well considering the freezing weather and that they had achieved their goal of finishing in the top 15 in the region.
Sophomore Ben Reifenberg, like a First Team Horizon League nominee like Kuphall, finished the race in 67th place in a time of 32:54.95. Reifenberg said of Stillwater, "The course was bar none the hardest I have ran on with its 14 large hills and with the ridiculous 50 mph gusts of wind that were present on Saturday, I would have liked to get out faster but it's hard on days like that with so much wind because no one really wants to lead the pack." Rounding out the rest of the men's Rambler finishers were freshman Josh Stein who finished 94th, junior Matt McCabe 106th, sophomore Anthony Wile 111th and freshmen Zach Romer 132nd and Jack Hackett coming in at 150th.
The women featured All-Region finisher junior Colleen Donovan, who finished in 25th with a time of 21:38.35. Making All-Region requires that you finish in the top 25 of the race. "As a team we were all very pleased with our finish, especially finishing second out of all teams from Illinois, and personally I was very excited to finish in the top 25 and make the All-Region team," Donovan said. "The race set up the chance for us to make even higher goals next season."
The other Rambler women finishers were sophomore Alison Rack in 98th place, freshman Jen Rock 103rd, senior Pam Staton 108th and senior Jessie Morgenthal coming in 110th. The women's team, led by the Women's Horizon League Coach of the Year Rick Wemple, showed great improvement from the previous season and look promising for upcoming seasons.
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