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Big Rapids, Mich.--The Grand Valley State University men's and women's cross country teams captured the overall team titles at the 2008 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships held Saturday (Nov. 8) at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich.

Wayne State's senior Rachelle Malette (Windsor, Ontario/Holy Names) claimed the women's overall regional title as she placed first in the 132-runner field in a time of 21:19.1 on the 6K course. Sophomore Megan Maceratini (Livonia, Mich./Winston Churchill) of Grand Valley State placed second (21:31.8), senior Jessica Monson (Powers Lake, Wis./ Westosha) of Wisconsin-Parkside's took third place (21:33.6).

Grand Valley State's senior Chris Hammer (Troy, Mich./Athens) was the men's individual champion. He completed the 10K course in a time of 31:52.8 to outdistance second-place finisher sophomore, Jaime Villa Zapatero (Madrid, Spain / Moore (Moore, Oklahoma) of Drury (31:53.6). Wayne State's senior Abdullah Saleh (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson) picked up third place honors (31:59.9), senior Bryan Phillips ((Kokomo, Indiana) of Southern Indiana was fourth (32:07.7) and Hillsdale's freshman Tim Jagielski (Camden, Mich./Waldron) placed fifth (32:07.7) among the 130 men's finishers.

The top four teams in the men's division, Grand Valley State, Wayne State, Southern Indiana and Ashland, along with top three women's teams, Grand Valley State, Wayne State and Ferris State, plus the top two individuals not associated with one of the qualifying teams earned bids to the NCAA Division II Championships slated to be held Saturday, Nov. 22, in Slippery Rock, Pa. Individual qualifiers included Wisconsin-Parkside's Jessica Monson and Southern Indiana's Mary Ballinger in the women's division along with Drury's Jaime Villa Zapatero and Hillsdale's Tim Jagielski in the men's field.

   Final Meet Results:
*Women's Team Results
*Women's Individual Results
*Men's Team Results
*Men's Individual Results

      The NCAA DII Cross Country Championships will be held at Cooper's Lake Campground, Slippery Rock, Pa on Saturday, Nov. 22 and will be hosted by Slippery Rock University.  The men's 10K race will begin at noon followed by the women's 6K race at 1:15pm.

--Weekly Cross Country Notes--

Ashland - The Ashland University men's cross country team earned a spot at the 2008 NCAA Division II cross country championships thanks to a fourth-place finish Saturday (Nov. 8) at the Midwest Regional Championships. The regional event was hosted by Ferris State and held in Big Rapids, MI. The AU men finished with 108 points and that got them the final spot at nationals. Cameron Johnson led the Eagles by placing 12th (32:34.1). Brock Weaver was 14th (32:39.4) and Matt Stratman placed 22nd (32:50.3). The AU women saw their season come to a close Saturday when they finished 12th. Abbie Selhorst had Ashland's best finish. She was 37th (23:48.6/6K).

Ferris - The Ferris State University women's cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships by placing third overall in the 2008 NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championships held Saturday (Nov. 8) on its own course at Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich. FSU senior Mikinzie Stuart (Saginaw/Nouvel Catholic) placed 12th overall (22:41.6), freshman Tyler Crossman (Rapid River) led the Bulldogs with a 47th-place effort (33:36.3). This year's third place regional effort was the program's best showing since an identical third-place finish at the 1990 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Championships.

Findlay - The University of Findlay men's and women's cross country teams completed the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional on Saturday, November 8 in Big Rapids, Michigan. The men's team placed 14th with 374 points while the women checked in at sixth with 180 points. On the women's side, Katherine McHenry led the way by taking 27th with a time of 23:35.5 while Hilary Esselstein took 31st at 23:43.3. Christine Zimmermann (23:51.5), Kristi Comstock (23:54.4), Jessica Latham (23:55.0), Tracey Stockmaster (24:43.8) and Erin Calvelage (24:56.7) also competed for Findlay. On the men's side, Kyle Tweed finished 54th at 33:42.8 while Mike Andreski was 61st with a time of 33:53.2). Craig Wolfe (34:05.5), Cory Irwin (34:20.6), Jordan Kirwen (35:28.1) and Tom Brown (39:12.6) also competed for the Oilers at the event.

Grand Valley - Grand Valley State men's cross country team won their seventh consecutive Midwest Regional championship on Saturday (Nov. 8) in Big Rapids, Mich...the Lakers placed five runners in the top-15, including three runners earning top-10 finishes. GLIAC Runner of the Year Chris Hammer (Troy, Mich./Athens) won the individual title with a time of 31:52 ...Grand Valley State women's cross country team tallied their eighth consecutive Midwest Regional championship on Saturday (Nov. 8) in Big Rapids, Mich...GVSU placed all five runners in the top-10 ...sophomore Megan Maceratini (Livonia, Mich./Winston Churchill), a third-place finisher at the GLIAC Championships, tallied a second-place finish at regionals with a time of 21:31.

Hillsdale - At the Division II Cross Country Regional Meet Saturday, freshman Tim Jagielski qualified for the Division II Cross Country championships by finishing fifth overall at the regional meet, held on the campus of Ferris State University. Jagielski finished the course in 32:07.7, just 15 seconds away from the first-place time at the meet.Jagielski has already been named First-Team All-Conference, and was the GLIAC Freshman of the Year. As a team, the Charger men finished sixth with 157 points at the regional meet. The women's cross country team was led by Erin Cvengros, who was 22nd overall with a time of 23:27.8. Freshman Amanda Putt was 40th in the meet with a time of 23:52. The team ended up in ninth place with a team score of 269 points

Lake Superior State - Junior Katie Scott (Mitchell, Ont.) finished 14th among conference competitors and 17th overall at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship held Saturday at Ferris State University. Scott, who was LSSU's lone competitor in the event, clocked a 23:17.4. Scott, who plans to leave LSSU at the end of the spring semester in order to attend graduate school, had previous regional finishes of 11th in 2007 and 28th in 2008.

Michigan Tech - Sophomore Brian Stetter and senior Laura Kangas each finished 48th to lead the Michigan Tech men's and women's cross country teams respectively at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships hosted by Ferris State Saturday (Nov. 8). Stetter finished the 10-kilometer course, the longest that the team has raced on this season, in 33:36.5. Kangas paced the team with a time of 24:11.0 over the six-kilometer race. Both the men's and women's cross country seasons are complete after they did not have a runner qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Northern Michigan - The Northern Michigan University women's cross country team concluded its season Saturday by running at the NCAA II Midwest Region which was held at Ferris State University. NMU finished in 16th place with 368 points. Grand Valley State won the event with 35 points.

Northwood - The Northwood University cross country teams took part in the NCAA Regional championships Saturday afternoon (November 8). The women's team finished their historic season with another record-breaking performance, placing fifth out of 18 teams with 176 points. Kylen Cieslak (Livonia, Mich./Churchill) led the way for the Timberwolves, placing seventh overall with a time of 22:18.9. The men's team placed 10th overall with 301 points. Both teams have now completed their season.

Saginaw Valley State - The Saginaw Valley State University men's and women's cross country teams each finished in 8th place today at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regionals hosted by Ferris State University. Juniors Steve Genther (Laingsburg, Mich.) and Amber Catlin (Alma, Mich./Alma HS) crossed the finish line first for the Cardinals. Genther crossed the finish line at the 32:47 mark for a 18th place finish and Catlin crossed the finish line in 23:36 for a 28th place finish.

Tiffin - Tiffin's men's cross country team finished 9th at the NCAA Regional meet, with Jeremy Lee earning All-Region honors by finishing 7th overall in 32:14.1. Jason Bumb was the next highest Dragons finisher in 62nd place in 33:54.9. In the women's race, TU finished 18th, with Heidi Kiesel taking 83rd place and Jessica Clark finishing in 95th place.

Wayne State - The Wayne State University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams qualified for the NCAA Championships with both teams posting a second place finish at the Division II NCAA Midwest Regional in Big Rapids, Mich. Senior, Abdullah Saleh (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson) placed third out of 130 competitors. His time of 31:59.9 was the third best 10k performance of his collegiate cross country career. Rachelle Malette (Windsor, Ont./HolyNames) had her best regional performance with a time of 21:19.1. She took first place out of 132 competitors. Malette along with teammates Lauren Kessler (Ionia, Mich./Ionia) and Kristi Werner (East Jordan, Mich./East Jordan) made The First Team All Regional. Kessler placed 13th with a time of 22:45.6 while Werner ran 22:46.2 placing 14th.