Salisbury Hosts NCAA Cross Country Mideast Regional on Saturday

Over 80 Men’s and Women’s Teams to Compete at Winter Place Park

Salisbury, Md - Salisbury University will serve as one of eight regional hosts for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships this Saturday, November 16 with the Mideast Regional at Winter Place Park. The event is the largest collegiate meet ever held in Salisbury and will feature over 80 teams and 500 competitors.

The 8K men’s race begins at 11 a.m., to be followed by the 6K women’s race at 12 noon.

“It’s certainly an honor to host a championship event like this,” says SU Head Coach Jim Jones. “There are a lot of very talented athletes and highly-ranked teams competing in this regional. It’s a quality event, with the best finishers advancing to the national championship meet next week.”

The top three men’s teams and top two women’s teams will represent the region at the NCAA Division III Championship Meet, to be hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN on November 23. In addition, the top seven men’s and women’s individual finishers not affiliated with the qualifying teams also earn an at-large spot in the national championship.

The Salisbury men enter Saturday’s Mideast Regional after enjoying one of the most successful seasons in team history. The Gulls captured three championships during the campaign, winning the Maryland State Championship, the Mason-Dixon Championship and last week’s Capital Athletic Conference Championship.

Four Sea Gulls earned first team all-CAC honors last week by virtue of placing among the top seven finishers. Sophomore Tristan Gilbert led the group with a third place finish (27:01), followed by freshman Will Murdoch in fifth (27:15), senior Andy Marrocco in sixth (27:21) and sophomore Will Detwiler in seventh (27:22).  Sophomore Brad Ellis (10th) and junior Steve Jacobs (13th) earned second team status.

In addition, Murdoch was selected by the conference’s coaches as the CAC Men’s Rookie of the Year, while Jones was selected by his peers as the Men’s Coach of the Year.

The Salisbury women finished fourth in last week’s championship, with sophomore Kelsey Scheitlin leading the squad with a 10th place individual finish. She received second team all-CAC honors.

“The goal for our men’s team is to finish higher than we did last year (15th) and possibly crack the top 10,” says Jones. “We’ve had a good streak this year with the three championship victories so we hope to add another strong showing this week.  

“The women’s goal is to perform better than we did last week in the conference championship. We want to finish the season on a high note.”  

Salisbury Roster