Great Lakes Regional Information

Nov. 10, 2005

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University men's and women's cross country teams will be attending the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Nov. 12, in Bloomington, Ind. There will be a total of 65 teams running, including 31 men's teams and 34 women's teams from across the Great Lakes Region. The men's 10K race is slated to begin at 11 a.m. and the women's 6K race will start at 12:15 p.m. on Indiana University's campus.

Each year, there are 31 teams selected to participate in the NCAA Championships. Eighteen of those teams earn automatic bids given to the top two teams in each of the nine regional sites. The final 13 spots are at-large bids determined by the Track and Field Committee.

Nine other MAC schools will be participating. Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami, Toledo, and Bowling Green have both men's and women's teams, while Ball State and Western Michigan only support women's cross country. At the MAC Championships two weeks ago, the Ohio men and women finished third and fourth, respectively.

Moving on to the NCAA Championships for both teams will be very difficult. Of all the schools participating in the men's Great Lakes Regional, five schools are nationally ranked with Wisconsin and Notre Dame ranked first and fifth, respectively. On the women's side, Notre Dame and Michigan are currently ranked third and fourth in the nation.

The men will look to improve upon their 13th-place finish last year under the leadership of Jason Linton (Vincent), who could potentially run his last race as a Bobcat this weekend. He placed ninth with a time of 25:03 at the MAC Championships to earn All-MAC honors. The women will rely on sophomore Carime Reinhart to finish higher than last year's 21st-place finish. She ran a personal best 17:49 to earn first-team All-MAC honors two weeks ago and is now only five seconds away from becoming the ninth fastest runner in Ohio women's cross country history.

The 62 men's and women's teams who earn bids this weekend will compete at the NCAA Championships at Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 26.