FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-048-07-08
Thursday, November 8, 2007

Cross Country Set to Compete at NCAA Mideast Regional Meet on Saturday

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Members of the men and woman’s cross country teams of Elizabethtown College will participate in the NCAA Mideast Regional meet at Lehigh University on Saturday afternoon The women's 6,000-meter race will begin at 1:15 p.m. followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 2:15 p.m.

A total of 47 schools will be competing at the meet, with the top two teams in both the men's and women's standings earning an automatic berth at next week's NCAA Division III championships at St. Olaf College. In addition, the top seven individual finishers not already qualified with a team will also advance to nationals.

The women's team goes into the Mideast Regional meet ranked eighth in the region and with high hopes and expectations after finishing first at the MAC championships two weeks ago.

Last year, the Blue Jays finished fourth in the regional meet and earned a bid to the NCAA Division III championships for the second time in three years. Elizabethtown has not finished outside the top 10 at regionals since 2002, including top-four finishes in each of the last three years.

The team will be led by senior Erin Fisher (McEwensville, PA/Warrior Run), who is the two-time defending MAC individual champion and was a fifth-place finisher at the regional last year to earn a berth in the NCAA championships.

Right behind her will be junior Tiffany Kulp (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge), who turned in a third-place finish at the MAC championships and was 30th in regionals last year. She finished 12th in the region in 2005 and earned an NCAA championships berth.

Sophomore Megan VanDenHengel (Mechanicsburg, PA/ Cumberland Valley) and first-year student Kristen O’Brien (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) will be competing at regionals for the first time after taking fourth and fifth, respectively, at the MAC championships.

Junior Amanda Daws (Thorofare, NJ/West Deptford) was second-team All-MAC with a 19th place at the MAC championships, and will be competing at the regional meet for the third straight year.

The final two runners will be sophomore Sarah Merusi (Montague, NJ/Port Jervis (NY) and senior Sarah Grove (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East), each of whom will be making their first-ever trip to the regional championships.

The Blue Jay men have seen much success at the Mideast Regional in the past, never finishing lower than sixth place as team since 1999 and qualifying four times to be included in the NCAA meet. This year's team hopes to stay in the top 10 of the Mideast Region after taking third at the MAC championships.

The men’s squad will be led by junior Scott Derkacz (Hugenot, NY/Port Jervis), who hopes to have a solid showing after a seventh-place finish in the MAC championships.

Right behind him will be senior Ryan St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) and sophomore Myles Lund (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga), the lone returnees from last year's regional lineup for the Blue Jays. St. Clair posted a eighth-place finish at the MAC championships while Lund took ninth place as each earned first-team All-MAC honors.

Filling out the lineup will be senior Drew Graybeal (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg), junior Dylan Rulander (Russell, PA/Eisenhower), and first-year student Chris Heisey (Middletown, PA/ Middletown). All three earned MAC second team status after their top 20 finish in the MAC championships as Graybeal finished in 12th place while Rulander and Heisey finished in 19th and 20th places respectively.

Junior Jeremy Matula (Bath, PA/Northampton) will be the Blue Jays' seventh runner at the meet after he finished 25th at the MAC championships.

-Mike Behounek '11 contributed to this article