WEEKEND PREVIEW: NCAA DII Regional Championships

NEW ORLEANS – If the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships are the “Big Dance”, then Saturday’s regional championships are the bouncer at the front door.
And unlike those in NCAA Divisions I and III, this bouncer is strict.
There are no at-large qualifiers from any of this weekend’s eight regional championships sites as each region is allotted only a specific number of qualifiers to the NCAA Championships on November 21 in Joplin, Missouri – no more, no less.
In other words: You’d better show up with your dancing shoes this weekend if you want to break them out again at NCAAs two weeks from now.
That is particularly true in several regions around the country that find themselves with more nationally ranked teams than qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships.
Perhaps the most cutthroat competition will come out of the women’s race in the Midwest, which despite boasting a nation-best six qualifying bids (based on last year’s teams’ performances) still has teams bottlenecking in line to punch their tickets to Joplin.
Not only does the field feature three-time defending champion No. 1 Grand Valley State and formerly top-ranked (now No. 3) Hillsdale, but eight squads are currently ranked in the top-25 nationally with two more on the cusp of the polls.
Case in point: Just a year ago in this same region, both Northern Michigan and Southern Indiana entered the meet ranked top-15 in the country. Neither advanced to NCAAs.
The West’s bids will be just as difficult to crack into, as six top-25 squads (and another receiving votes) are vying for just four men’s berths, while eight nationally ranked teams will battle for five berths in the women’s race.
Every region will be hotly contested, and you can find info on each of them – including live results – on the USTFCCCA’s Regional Championships Central page.
Below are overviews of the top teams contending at each regional site this weekend, along with the defending team and individual champions.

Teams in yellow are nationally ranked teams (or teams ranked regionally in-line with nationally ranked squads) that find themselves outside their regions’ auto qualifying bid total.
ATLANTIC REGION WOMEN: 10:30 AM ET MEN: 11:45 AM ET MEN (3 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (3 Auto Qualifers) 1 #10 Lock Haven 2 #11 Shippensburg 3 Indiana (Pa.) (RV) 4 Slippery Rock 5 Edinboro 6 Kutztown 7 East Stroudsburg 8 California (Pa.) 9 Bloomsburg 10 Mansfield 1 #18 Edinboro 2 #24 East Stroudsburg 3 #25 Shippensburg 4 California (Pa.) 5 Bloomsburg 6 Slippery Rock 7 Seton Hill 8 Kutztown 9 Lock Haven 10 Mercyhurst Defending Men’s Team Champ: Lock Haven (x2) 2014 Champion: Aaron Dinzeo, California (Pa.) (graduated) Top Returner: Dylan Mountain, Lock Haven (fourth) Defending Women’s Team Champ: Edinboro (x2) Reigning Champion: kasey Jones, Edinboro (not yet competed) Next-Best Returner: Emma Sullivan, Edinboro (third)	CENTRAL REGION WOMEN: 11:00 AM ET MEN: 12:15 PM ET MEN (5 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (5 Auto Qualifers) 1 #7 Augustana (S.D.) 2 #14 Neb.-Kearney 3 #18 Southwest Baptist 4 #22 Pittsburg State 5 East Central (Okla.) (RV) 6 Sioux Falls 7 Fort Hays State 8 Northwest Missouri 9 MSU Moorhead 10 Harding 1 #5 Minnesota Duluth 2 #10 U-Mary 3 #12 Augustana (S.D.) 4 #22 Harding 5 Southwest Baptist (RV) 6 Missouri Southern 7 Winona State 8 Fort Hays State 9 Northern State 10 Pittsburg State Defending Men’s Team Champion: Augustana (S.D.) (x3) Reigning Champion: Harald Karbo, Augustana (S.D.) Next-Best Returner: Matt Horan, Sioux Falls (fourth) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Minnesota Duluth (x2) 2014 Champion: Samantha Rivard, Minnesota Duluth (not active) Top Returner: Leah Seivert, Augustana (S.D.) (second)
EAST REGION (SUNDAY) WOMEN: 11:00 AM ET MEN: 12:15 PM ET MEN (3 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (3 Auto Qualifers) 1 #19 American International 2 #24 Stonehill 3 Franklin Pierce (RV) 4 Southern New Hampshire 5 Roberts Wesleyan 6 Bentley 7 Merrimack 8 Adelphi 9 Southern Connecticut 10 Molloy 1 #16 Stonehill 2 Roberts Wesleyan 3 Daemen 4 St. Thomas Aquinas 5 Philadelphia 6 Bentley 7 Assumption 8 American International 9 Merrimack 10 Nyack Defending Men’s Team Champion: American International 2014 Individual Champion: Mike Biwott, AIC (x2) (Graduated) Top Returner: Michael Scott, LIU Post (sixth) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Roberts Wesleyan 2014 Individual Champion: Rachel Prutsman, Roberts Wesleyan (Graduated) 2013 Individual Champion: Tara Dooley, Bentley (Redshirted in ’14) Top Returner: Tayla Williams, LIU Post (runner-up)	MIDWEST REGION WOMEN: 11:30 AM ET MEN: 12:45 PM ET MEN (5 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (6 Auto Qualifers) 1 #1 Grand Valley State 2 #7 Southern Indiana 3 #13 UW-Parkside 4 #23 Malone 5 Saginaw Valley State (RV) 6 Indianapolis 7 Ashland 8 Michigan Tech 9 Bellarmine 10 Walsh 1 #1 Grand Valley State 2 #3 Hillsdale 3 #8 Northern Michigan 4 #11 Southern Indiana 5 #14 Lewis 6 #20 UW-Parkside 7 #23 Bellarmine 8 #25 Malone 9 Indianapolis 10 Ashland (RV) Defending Men’s Team Champion: Grand Valley State (x13) 2014 Individual Champ: Tyler Pence, Southern Indiana (Graduated) Top Returner: Johnny Guy, Southern Indiana (’13 champ) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Grand Valley State (x14) Returning Individual Champion: Emily Oren, Hillsdale Returning National Champion: Kendra Foley, Grand Valley State
SOUTH REGION WOMEN: 9:00 AM ET MEN: 10:15 AM ET MEN (3 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (3 Auto Qualifers) 1 Saint Leo (RV) 2 Lee (Tenn.) 3 Nova Southeastern 4 Alabama-Huntsville 5 West Alabama 6 Florida Southern 7 Tampa 8 West Florida 9 Florida Tech 10 Shorter 1 Tampa (RV) 2 West Alabama 3 Saint Leo 4 Lee (Tenn.) 5 Union (Tenn.) 6 Alabama-Huntsville 7 North Alabama 8 West Georgia 9 Florida Tech 10 Nova Southeastern Defending Men’s Team Champion: Florida Southern (x2) Returning Individual Champion: Dessie Demlew, Benedict Next-Best Returner: Valentin Lenz, Saint Leo Defending Women’s Team Champion: Tampa (x8) 2013 Individual Champion: Vicky Winslow, UAH (redshirted ’14) 2014 Individual Champion: Kelley Bahn, West Florida (Graduated) Top Returner: Colett Rampf, Saint Leo (runner-up)	SOUTH CENTRAL REGION WOMEN: 10:30 AM ET MEN: 11:45 AM ET MEN (6 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (4 Auto Qualifers) 1 #3 Adams State 2 #4 Colorado Mines 3 #9 Western State 4 #12 West Texas A&M 5 #20 Colorado Mesa 6 #25 UC-Colorado Springs 7 Oklahoma Christian 7 Black Hills State (RV) 9 Tarleton State 10 CSU-Pueblo 1 #2 Adams State 2 #7 Western State 3 #15 Colorado Mines 4 #20 Dallas Baptist 5 Fort Lewis (RV) 6 UC-Colorado Springs 7 CSU-Pueblo 8 Chadron State 9 Tarleton State 10 Colorado Christian Defending Men’s Team Champion: Adams State (x3) 2014 Individual Champion: Kevin Batt, Adams State (not active) Top Returner: Nathanael Williams, Colorado Mines (sixth) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Adams State (x3) Defending Individual Champion: Maura O’Brien, Adams State Next-Best Returner: Rachel Kresl, Adams State
SOUTHEAST REGION WOMEN: 10:30 AM ET MEN: 11:45 AM ET MEN (3 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (3 Auto Qualifers) 1 #16 Mount Olive 2 Queens (N.C.) 3 UNC Pembroke 4 Mars Hill 5 Augusta 6 Columbus State 7 Georgia College 8 Flagler 9 Young Harris 10 King 1 #17 Montevallo 2 Wingate 3 Queens (N.C.) 4 Anderson (S.C.) 5 North Georgia 6 UNC Pembroke 7 Mount Olive 8 Columbus State 9 Young Harris 10 Augusta Defending Men’s Team Champion: Mars Hill Defending Individual Champion: Ahmad Nesbitt, North Greenville (not yet competed in 2015) Next-Best Returner: Job Kemboi, Clayton State (runner-up) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Montevallo Reigning Individual Champion: Catie Byrd, Queens (N.C.) Next-Best Returner: Alyssa Johnson, Wingate (fourth)	WEST REGION WOMEN: 1:00 PM ET MEN: 2:15 PM ET MEN (4 Auto Qualifers) WOMEN (5 Auto Qualifers) 1 #2 Chico State 2 #5 Alaska Anchorage 3 #6 Cal Poly Pomona 4 #14 Cal Baptist 5 #17 SF State 6 #21 Simon Fraser 7 Western Washington (RV) 8 Academy of Art 9 Azusa Pacific 10 Humboldt State 1 #4 Chico State 2 #6 Alaska Anchorage 3 #9 Cal Baptist 4 #13 Western Washington 5 #19 UC San Diego 6 Cal State San Bernardino (RV) 7 Azusa Pacific (RV) 8 Central Washington (RV) 9 Seattle Pacific 10 Cal State Stanislaus Defending Men’s Team Champion: Chico State (three in a row) 2014 Individual Champion: Henry Cheseto, Alaska Anchorage Next-Best Returner: Dominik Notz, Alaska Anchorage (runner-up) Defending Women’s Team Champion: Simon Fraser 2014 Individual Champion: Katelyn Steen, W. Washington (graduated) Top Returner: Caroline Barkechir, Cal Baptist (runner-up)