With the national championships less than a month away, the conference and regional competitions are now underway, with NCAA Division II having recently concluded their conference weekend. 

Many athletes, teams, and storylines to look out for and some of which have begun to reveal themselves as we close in on the final stages of the cross country season.

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Evan Horgan (Lewis U.) Dominates GLVC With New Course Record

It looks like the 2024 DII Midwest Regional Champion has officially put everyone on notice that he will be coming to defend his throne on November 8th in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the regional championships.

Potentially one of the biggest performances of the weekend, Evan Horgan (Lewis University) seems to have found the same momentum that saw him lead the Midwest Region to the NCAA DII National Championships last year this past weekend at the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championship. This time however, he didn't just run away with the title, but he also set a new course record on home turf by 23 seconds, covering the 8k distance in 23:26.3.

He also led the Lewis Flyers to their third consecutive GLVC title, putting up a dominant performance of 41 ahead of Illinois-Springfield's 79.

Going into the Midwest Regional Championships in just two weeks, Horgan will be challenged by the likes of Ramon Rodriguez, Koby Fraaza, Bahozhoni Church, and Owen Westerkamp for the title.

West Texas Sweeps the Lone Star Conference In Style

The Buffalos went charging once again as the men (#13) secured a 13th consecutive team title and women (#1) tallying a fifth for the Buffs.

Starting with the women, they scored 37 points to finish ahead of Midwestern St. who took the runner-up spot 40 points behind with 77. UT-Tyler rounded out the top-3 team with 80 points.

Looking at the lineup and placements, Sarah Koomson (DII #6) and Naomi Addo (DII #8) took it to the wire with just .2 seconds separating them, with Koomson taking the individual title in 21:04.6 and Addo in second in 21:04.8. Abigail Abguire and Julie Lafare (DII #19) followed behind to take third and fourth with Yvonne Legarreta in 27th to round out the scoring.

On the men's side, just like the women, they put up a dominant performance by managing to put their scoring athletes in the top-6, going 2-3-4-5-6 for 20 points, 57 ahead of second place Dallas Baptist's 77.

A name to look out for this upcoming post-season, Adrian Legarreta will be stepping up to fill the void that William Amponsah and Harry Louadour left last year upon graduation as he took second in 23:54.8 behind Texas A&M International's Ian Rono. Matthys Bourse took third, Tommaso Toppi fourth, Berry Cox fifth, and Fintan Kavanagh in sixth to round out the scoring 5.

For both squads they will be looking to return back onto the podium at the national championships in November, as last year the men took fourth, while the women finished runner-ups just behind Adams State.

GVSU Continues GLIAC Dynasty, Wins 23rd and 24th Consecutive Titles

So much to say yet so little to actually say about Grand Valley State University other than, "pure dominance."

While most programs tend to have a down year after losing many of their top athletes to graduation, Grand Valley State however, may be one of the few that has rarely suffered such, as each year they consistently are able to fill in the gaps left by the previous graduating class, whether with redshirts and/or one of many of their breakout athletes.

For reference, comparing the national championship results from last year to this year's lineup, in terms of the top-7, Koby Fraaza and Owen Westerkamp were the only returners; Conor Somers, Báhozhóni Church, Sebastian Ramirez, and Nathan Riddering filled the voids left by Caleb Futter, Scott Spaanstra, Daniel Lambert, and Samuel Martens. On the women side, Natalie Mello and Karen Kiratu stepped up to take the spots left by Maria Mitchell and Abby Olson. Notably, Church made a huge jump in progress, running 25:18.8 last fall and now recently ran 23:22.8 at Notre Dame a few weeks back.

Looking at the results themselves, both men and women put up incredibly low scores, with the men scoring 17 and the women sweeping 1-5 for a perfect 15. Reigning national champion, Lauren Kiley, led 6 women into the top-10 with a pack-oriented spread of 37 seconds between first and fifth. Alongside her were Abby VanderKooi, Allie Arnman, Maggie O'Malley, and freshman Natalie Mello.

On the men's side, Koby Fraaza claimed his first ever GLIAC title for cross country, improving upon his runner-up finish from last year behind Caleb Futter. Followed by him, Conor Somers and Báhozhóni Church took second and third, with Sebastian Ramirez and Ramirez in fifth and sixth to round out the team scoring.

With the DII Midwest Regional Championships coming up, just like the GLIAC Championships, the Lakers will be looking to continue their historic winning streak, as they have continued to sweep the team titles each year dating as far back as 2009.

Grace Strongman Leads Orediggers To First Ever RMAC Title

Some historic action coming out of the RMAC as the Colorado School of Mines secures their first ever women's team title at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships (RMAC)!

Led by the eventual Conference Champion, Grace Strongman, the Orediggers managed to put all five scoring athletes in the top-10 to score just 28 points; 40 points ahead of UC-Colorado Springs and 56 ahead of reigning DII National Champions, Adams State. Emily LaMena took third, Margaux Basart seventh, Callen Nash either, and Sierra Wall ninth to round out the top-five scoring athletes.

Reflecting back at the rest of the season so far and how strong the Orediggers are looking, the Orediggers were able to carry the early-season momentum that they showed at Pre-Nationals (Lucian Rosa Invitational) where they finished ahead of Adams State 51 to 77. With all of the previous events of the fall leading up until this past weekend, we may as very well see this team potentially dethrone the Adams State women to win their first national team title as well. However, they aren't quite in the clear yet, as they will still need to qualify through at the South Central Regional Championships, which is arguably one of the strongest regions in the country.

Sophomore Star Allison Kuzma Takes Down Claire Rethman To Claim G-MAC Title

One of  many athletes who have put themselves on the post-season radar following this past weekend, Hillsdale's Allison Kuzma showed us that she will be one to look out for on the regional and potentially national stage, as the sophomore managed to break away from Claire Rethman (DII #3) on Saturday to claim her first conference title in cross country in a 6k personal best of 20:29.1.

Looking ahead to the regional championships, Kuzma will not just have to face off against Rethman once more, but will also be toeing the line against GVSU's Abby VanderKooi, Allie Arnsman, Emily Walsh, Corrine Lynch, and last but not least, the 2024 DII National Champion, Lauren Kiley of Grand Valley State University.

Despite all of her achievements so far this fall, it is worth noting that her freshman year was nothing short of spectacular either, as Kuzma came into this fall not just with conference titles, but also All-American honors from the previous outdoor season when she finished 3rd in the 10k. With this, on top of last year's Midwest Regionals, the sophomore already has a taste of what it's like to race against the best on the national stage.

Pittsburg State Women Narrowly Claims Fourth Consecutive MIAA Title

Potentially what could end up being the smallest winning margin from the conference championships as whole, Pittsburg State nearly had their fourth consecutive MIAA team title snatched from them, as Rogers State scored 56 to just be one point shy of Pittsburg's 55 points. 

As the saying goes (or something around these lines), "the fifth runner is just as important as the first," and that sentiment held up as Phoebe Fletcher was Pittsburg's fifth to cross the line, narrowly holding off Fort Hays State's Taylor Hopkinson, who was just two seconds behind her. For the rest of the crew, Paige Mullen and Hannah Gibson went 2-3 with Lorna Rae Pierce in 6th, and Kaci Singer in 20th.

Credit is due where credit is due however, as Rogers State as they could potentially prove a challenge to the Gorillas at the regional championship, as they managed to slip their five into the top 16. Amy Morefield led Rogers State with a 4th place finish, with Kaylee Navy in 10th and Brooklyn Granola 11th followed by another duo of Emily Cruz and Jordan Wallace in 15th and 16th.

Looking to the Central Region Championships, Pittsburg State will be looking to punch another ticket to nationals, but on paper it looks like they will be joined by Augustana, U-Mary, Winona State, and now Rogers State to try and chase that regional title and bids for nationals.

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