The Bluffton University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the last meet of the season at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional cross country championships held on the campus of Andersen University.

A total of 37 teams from across the region and over 250 athletes per gender were competing for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championships next Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The men started off the day with a standout performance from Colin McCloskey (Sylvania/Northview). McCloskey ran a phenomenal race, finishing in 67th place overall and 10th among freshman in the region. It was the highest finish at a regional meet in Bluffton men's history.

McCloskey averaged a 5:20 per mile pace over 8k to finish in 26:35.11. Fellow freshman Kevin Stewart (Springfield/Emmanuel Christian Academy) also ran an exceptional race, finishing in 27:37.73. Rounding out the top three for the Beavers was freshman Zach Bradley (Sheffield/Brookside), running a personal-best 27:58.43.

The women were lead once again by their senior captain Alison Janzen (Whitewater, Kan./Remington) who was competing in her final collegiate cross country meet. Janzen ran a near personal best to finish in 23:40.60; her 65th place showing was also the highest finish at the NCAA regional meet in the history of Bluffton's women.

The freshman duo of Tara Murphy (Westerville/Thomas Worthington) and Demi Snider (Kenton) finished second and third for the Beavers. Murphy finished in 25:12.89 with Snider close behind at 26:01.76.

Head coach Karen Brandt was pleased with the overall performance from the men today and the season as a whole.

“I am amazed with how well Colin ran as a freshman against a very large and talented field. I was very pleased with the fact that the men defeated Defiance, but was a little frustrated with the overall team performance compared to the conference meet. There were a few runners that did not run to their potential. Overall it was a quality season for a primarily freshman team that had four first-year runners lead our team today. We hope to add to this nucleus next year.”

Coach Brandt was also extremely proud of Alison Janzen in her final cross country meet.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the way Alison ran today considering the windy conditions at the regional meet, and delighted with how she finished among this field. I’m happy to see Alison end with a strong performance at the conclusion of her cross county career. It was a very good performance overall for the women’s team considering the lingering injuries we had throughout our top seven, but delighted with the way the women finished out the season.”

The cross country season came to a close on Saturday, but the Beavers will return to action on December 1 when the track and field team opens up its 2012-13 campaign at Defiance.