McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University cross country teams competed at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, November 16, in Rock Island, Illinois. The women's team achieved a fifth-place finish with 197 points and had three athletes earn All-Region honors. The men's team finished in 16th place with 420 points, highlighted by an All-Region performance from senior Nick Fisch.

The women's fifth-place finish marks their best result at the Midwest Regionals since 2012 when they placed third. Despite being ranked eighth in the region before the race, IWU's women delivered strong performances. Sophomore Adriana Crabtree finished 13th, freshman Maddie Morgan took 25th place, and senior Annalese Chudy came in 27th. "Crabtree who finished 21st at last year's regional race," climbed to a 13th-place finish with a time of 22:03.6. Morgan recorded a personal-best time of 22:30.2 for her first All-Region recognition, while Chudy completed the race in 22:36.4 to earn her third career All-Region honor.

On the men's side, Nick Fisch achieved his first All-Region accolade by finishing in 32nd place with a time of 25:19.1. "Fisch proved his grit at this year's Midwest Regional," after improving from previous years' placements of 65th and 69th. Ernie Waterson was IWU's second runner for the men, finishing in 83rd place with a time of 26:40.6.

In the overall team results, the University of Chicago won the women's meet with 36 points, followed by Washington University in St. Louis with 82 points and Wartburg College with 127 points. Illinois Wesleyan was the highest-finishing school from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). For the men's competition, Wartburg claimed victory with a score of 44 points.

The NCAA will announce qualifiers for the National Championship set to take place in Terre Haute, Indiana on Sunday, November 17. Additionally, "the USTFCCCA official list of All-Region honorees will be announced on Monday," November 18.