The Leatherneck cross country teams are set to compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Oklahoma State University on November 9, 2023. Last year, Logan Lommel broke the 10k school record set by Dan Alberts in 1976. This year, Lommel is joined by six teammates aiming to improve their performance from the previous year.
Recently, the Leathernecks participated in their inaugural Ohio Valley Conference Championship. Sophomore Robert Perry achieved the fifth-best 8k time in school history with a time of 24:40. Perry and Lommel led Western Illinois University (WIU) to a seventh-place finish among 11 conference schools.
In the women's division, sophomore Aylana Cezar and junior Aurora Dominguez guided their team to an eighth-place finish. For Dominguez, this competition in Stillwater feels like a homecoming; she is originally from Dodge City, Kansas and was a five-time National qualifier while at Dodge City Community College.
"Only two of the seven competitors this weekend are upperclassmen," said head cross country coach Trey Brokaw. "This will be great experience for our young squad."
The top two teams from the NCAA Regional Championships will automatically advance to the NCAA National Championships hosted next weekend by the University of Virginia. Additionally, a computer-generated ranking system will select at-large qualifying teams based on wins against ranked opponents. Individually, runners who place in the top four at Regionals but are not part of a qualifying team—and who rank within the top-25 overall—will also progress to Nationals.
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