The University of Toledo cross country teams made program history on Friday, November 13, sweeping the men’s and women’s team titles at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships in East Lansing, Michigan — the first regional titles in school history for either team, NCAA.com reported.
The Toledo women dominated their race, finishing in first, second and third place individually and winning with 31 points, NCAA.com reported. Karina James won the women’s individual title in 19:55.2, with teammates Purity Chepkirui second and Dorcas Kiptanui third, according to NCAA.com; the Rockets’ scorers finished 1-2-3-6-19. Five-time defending champion Notre Dame was second with 60 points and took the other automatic qualifying bid, NCAA.com reported.
The Toledo men completed the sweep with 59 points, their scorers finishing 2-3-5-13-36, NCAA.com reported. Butler’s William Zegarski won the men’s individual title in 29:55.0, ahead of Toledo’s Patrick Kiprop in second and Joad Martinho in third, according to NCAA.com and university race reports. Two-time defending champion Notre Dame finished second with 66 points, according to Youngstown State’s race report.
Neither title was a small step. The Toledo women had previously never finished higher than third at a regional, and the men had never finished higher than seventh, NCAA.com reported. Together, Toledo took home both Great Lakes titles for the first time, according to NCAA.com.
Ohio State’s teams, racing on Michigan State’s Forest Akers East Golf Course, finished 16th in the men’s standings and 19th in the women’s standings, Ohio State reported on November 13. Toledo’s sweep stood out in a field that included Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State programs that have long controlled the region.
By winning, both Toledo teams earn automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA national championships on November 21, according to Youngstown State’s and other universities’ regional reports. The NCAA selection show was scheduled for Friday, November 14, at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com, Youngstown State reported, to fill out the national field.
What happens next is Terre Haute, Indiana, on November 21, where the Rockets will race for a national finish to match the regional breakthrough. For a Toledo program that had never won this meet before Friday, leaving East Lansing with both trophies, the women’s individual crown and two automatic national bids is the biggest day in program history — and it happened in a single morning.
Photo: MrJacon000, CC BY-SA
[…] title caps a championship Friday for northwest Ohio athletics, on the same day Toledo swept the NCAA Great Lakes Regional cross country titles, and it lands alongside another state final in Columbus this weekend, the all-Cincinnati Division I […]