Akron Set for NCAA Great Lakes Cross Country Regional

Friday, November 15

Madison, Wis.

University of Akron

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Akron Set for NCAA Great Lakes Cross Country Regional

November 14 | Cross Country

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NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | MEET INFORMATION | LIVE RESULTS | LIVE VIDEO ($) | MEN'S VIDEO PREVIEW | WOMEN'S VIDEO PREVIEW

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's and women's cross country teams will continue their postseason competition on Friday, Nov. 15, traveling to Madison, Wis., for the 2019 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

The women's 6-kilometer race will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, with the men's 10-kilometer race to follow at 1:30 p.m. ET.

The meet serves as the qualification event for the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind., at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

The top two teams on both the men's and women's side on Friday will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship meet. Following the nine regional meets across the country, 13 additional teams will earn at-large bids following a review of regular-season competition and finish at the regional championships. After teams have been determined, 36 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the national meet, including the top-four finishers at each regional who are not a member of automatically-selected teams. Two additional at-large individuals will be selected by the committee.

The women's field will feature runners from 33 schools, including nine from the Mid-American Conference in Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami University, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.

Scheduled to compete for the Zips will be freshman Olivia Anaple (Blue Ash, Ohio), senior Mackenzie Andrews (Toowoomba, Australia), sophomore Lizzy Gurko (Northfield, Ohio), senior Haley Hess (Curtice, Ohio), junior Lindsey Scarton (Berea, Ohio) and redshirt junior Alyssa Thomas (Green, Ohio).

A year ago, in the women's 6K race, Andrews led the Zips' women's efforts turning in a team-best time of 21:40.16 to place 50th, Hess followed Andrews across the line registering a time of 22:13.19 to finish 84th.

Andrew's performance marked the highest individual finish for an Akron women's runner since 2009 when Larisa Arcip placed 43rd overall.

Rounding out Akron's scoring efforts was Thomas, Scarton and Gurko, as the trio recorded times of 22:26.24, 22:31.96 and 23:12.94, respectively.

Elizabeth Mosier and Ashley Murray capped the Zips' performances turning in times of 23:17.25 and 23:25.04.

Collectively, the Zips placed 14th in the men's race 10K, while the Akron women's squad finished 17th in the 6K.

The Zips posted their seventh top-15 men's team effort at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional since 2010, while the Akron women's squad matched its top-team finish since 2010.

The men's field will feature runners from 30 schools, including eight from the MAC in Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami University, Ohio and Toledo.

Scheduled to compete for the Zips will be junior Andre Bollam-Godbott (Brunswick, Ohio), freshman Chase Easterling (Mt. Orab, Ohio), senior Jeremiah Fitzgerald (Mantua, Ohio), freshman Aidan Harr (New Philadelphia, Ohio), senior Marc Migliozzi (Pittsburgh, Pa.), redshirt junior Jacob Ondash (Hiram, Ohio) and senior Nick Stricklen (Lexington, Ohio).

In 2018 in his final cross country race as a collegian, Tevin Brown registered his third top finish of the season for Akron registering a time of 32:07.65 to place 49th

Migliozzi turned in a strong performance crossing the line next for the Zips in a time of 32:36.0 to finish 75th.

Stricklen, Taylor Hopkins and Jake Wickert culminated the Zips' scoring efforts with times of 32:40.4 (80th), 33:09.69 (109th) and 33:16.14 (118th), respectively.

Additionally, Bollam-Godbott posted a time of 34:51.43 (169th).

The Zips enter the NCAA Great Lakes Regional coming off their efforts at the MAC Cross Country Championship on Nov. 2 in DeKalb, Ill.

Collectively, the Akron men's team earned a fourth-place performance in the final team standings, while the women's squad garnered a fifth-place effort, its highest team finish since placing third in 2009.

Migliozzi became the first Zip in men's cross country program history to capture the men's individual championship at the MAC Championships, besting the field by over 10 seconds with a winning time of 25:19.9.

By virtue of his performance on the day, Migliozzi became the eighth Zips to garner first-team All-MAC honors and first since Garrett Crichlow matched the feat in 2016 and 2017.

Stricklen was next across the line for the Zips' men's squad garnering second-team All-MAC accolades for Akron registering a time of 25:54.2 to place 12th overall. He became the 10th Akron runner to earn second-team All-MAC honors and first since Migliozzi collected the laurels in 2017 and 2018.

Hess and Andrews directed the efforts of the Akron women's squad earning first-team All-MAC honors on the strength of times of 22:04.4 and 22:07.2, respectively, to place sixth and seventh overall.

Scarton crossed the line only a tenth of a second behind Andrews to finish eighth and garner second-team All-MAC accolades with a time of 22:07.3.

Hess and Andrews became the 11th and 12th Zips in program history to collect first-team All-MAC honors and the first since Arcip in 2008. Scarton is the eighth Akron runner to earn second-team All-MAC laurels and the first since Arcip in 2009.

Ondash, Easterling and Harr rounded out Akron's men's scoring efforts in the meet posting times of 26:32.8, 26:33.1 and 26:34.5 to finish 34th, 35th and 36th, respectively. Harr's effort represented a career-best time.

Additionally, Bollam-Godbott and Fitzgerald recorded times of 26:44.2 (41st) and 27:21.8 (62nd).

Thomas and Anaple rounded out the Zips' women's scoring efforts crossing the line in 23:13.1 and 23:25.8.

Additionally, Gurko, senior Varvara Lissichkina (Karaganda, Kazahkstan) and junior Leah Recker (Findlay, Ohio) recorded times of 23:35.7, 23:47.6 and 24:33.8.