Saluki Cross Country Heads to NCAA Midwest Regional

Friday, November 15

Stillwater, OK

11 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

NCAA REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

11/14/2019 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country

By: Brandon Lindholm, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men and women's cross country teams are headed to Stillwater, Okla. to take part in the 2019 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, hosted by Oklahoma State University on Friday, Nov. 15.

THE FIELD

A grand total of 34 teams will be competing in the men's 10K, while 31 teams will race in the women's 6K for a chance to qualify for the 2019 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 23. The top-two teams in each race will automatically qualify for the national meet, in addition to the top-four individuals not attached to a team that has already qualified. 13 additional teams and a various number of runners will be chosen at-large in the days leading up to the national meet.

The Saluki men will face a field of teams that includes some of the top programs in the country. For the first time since 2012, two top-10 ranked programs will take part in the men's race (No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Tulsa). On the women's side, the Salukis will be up against three ranked teams (No. 22 Illinois, No. 25 Okla. St., No. 26 Minnesota) in a field of 31 teams.

THE SALUKIS

SIU is looking to qualify its first student-athlete for the national meet since 2012. At last year's regional meet, the men placed 22^nd out of 31 teams while the women placed 30^th out of 35. Former Saluki Josh Maier led the men with his 45^th place finish. Redshirt senior Olivia Murphy led the Saluki women by placing 110^th with a time of 22:14.6. Fellow senior Megan Krolak placed 151^st with a time of 22:40.1.

"The expectation is to just keep learning and growing," said cross country coach Kevin Cataldo of his expectations for this race. "As a team, collectively, take away the things we did correctly at the conference meet and make some changes to the things we could've done better."

The men are coming into the race with experience being their biggest advantage, as all of the Saluki runners have been to the regional meet before. Racing for SIU is redshirt senior Cain Hassim, sophomore Reid Parsons, junior Jacob DeWitt, junior Michael Church and senior Chris Edwards.

"I'm really happy with how we've progressed," said Cataldo. "I think they're figuring out how to run as a pack and I think it's really starting to click. The men are racing in the 10K, which I think really plays into our favor. That's what we've been training for this entire season. Jacob and Chris are getting back into the best level of fitness that we've ever seen them in, so it's good that the season has gone this long."

At the 2019 MVC Cross Country Championships, Hassim led the men by placing 26^th with a time of 26:03.73. Meanwhile, Parsons, who missed the past month before the conference meet, finished 31^st with a time of 26:12.53. "I know Cain was disappointed in his finish at conference," said Cataldo. "If I know Cain, he's going to bounce back and really do something at the regional meet. Reid missed a month of racing before conference and I think he's had to get that rust-buster out of the way. However, I think the 10K plays in his favor. These guys are kind of riding a high in a lot of different ways."

On the women's side Krolak leads a group of Salukis that includes Murphy, freshman Fallon Russell, redshirt senior Madison Decker, sophomore Maddy Hurt and freshman Rachel Anderson. At the conference meet, Krolak led the women with her 14^th place finish, earning her second career All-MVC honors. Murphy finished seven spots behind Krolak (21^st) with a mark of 19:03.25.

"I think it's more about growth," said Cataldo on the prospects of the women's race. "It's more about growth and to get a higher level of experience for our young group. We only have two people who have raced here multiple times in Megan and Olivia. For that group, I don't think there's any pressure on them. For the young group, let's go out there and absorb what's going on and grow from this."

THE VENUE

The meet will be held at the OSU Cross Country Course, which recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation in preparation for the 2019 Midwest Regional and the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The setup of the course provides a straightaway to the finish box, with mounds on each side to offer a view for the spectators.

"The course has been known to be very challenging," said Cataldo. "They made the multi-million dollar renovation happen and now it's got fresh sod laid down everywhere and has been widened. It's still going to be a challenging course. I know it's rolling, but I think we try to do that with our athletes anyway. When they start to feel sluggish towards the end of a run, we throw them on our course to experience a tougher go-at-it and maybe not keep them in rhythm. We're hopeful that the fitness is there and that our minds are prepared for the discomfort level that they may experience on this course."

The women's 6K will get underway at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 10K at 11 a.m.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS

Live results can be found here.
A live stream provided by FloTrack is available for purchase here.
To view a map of the women's 6K course, click here.
To view a map of the men's 10K course, click here.
Click here to view the Midwest Regional Championship page.

For the latest updates on the Salukis, follow the team on Twitter (@SIUTrackXC), Instagram (@SIUTrackXC) and Facebook (@SalukiTrackAndField).