Cross Country | 11/7/2015 6:15:00 PM

Men's 10K Results
Women's 6K Results
JOPLIN, Mo. — For the second straight year, the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's cross country team is headed to the NCAA Division II National Championships. The Dragons earned that trip with a fifth-place finish at the Central Region meet which was held Saturday in Joplin, Mo.

The Dragon women, led by a 17th-place finish from junior MaKenzie Smith, were 11th in the 31-team field with 306 points.  Junior Brady Speicher and redshirt freshman Josh Young earned all-region honors for the MSUM men while Smith earned all-region honors on the women's side.

On the men's side, MSUM edged Pittsburg State for fifth place by just one point (187-188) for the final qualifying position.

"We knew it was going to be close going in," MSUM cross country coach Ryan Milner said. "We had a much tougher region this year than in previous years."

Speicher was 17th to pace the Dragon men. His 10K time was 31:10.81.

"He spearheaded the pack throughout the race," Milner said.

Young was 25th in 31:27.57 to earn all-region honors while Christ was 26th in 31:10.81.

"Josh Young moved through the race like he always does," Milner said. "Cody is rounding into shape right on time, which was huge for us."

Senior Tyler Hennen had an excellent run, placing 48th in 32:01.52.

"Tyler Hennen had a huge race," Milner said.

Freshman Joshua Ernst was 71st for MSUM (32:28.37) while sophomore Jay Biwer was 131st in 34:04.75.  Junior Brandon Selbig was 159th in 35:42.92.

"Last year, it was exciting to advance. From my standpoint, a lot of the talk I heard last year was us getting to the nationals was kind of a fluke and it wasn't going to happen again," Milner said. "To get back there sets a new standard for our program, and there is a lot of satisfaction in that."

Smith earned all-region honors after placing 17th with a 6K time of 21:44.80.  Freshman Marissa Carlson was 45th in 22:34.76 while senior Emily Mammenga was 49th in 22:37.89.  Freshman Alicia Swenson was 91st in 23:31.61 while sophomore Mindy Kraft was 109th in 23:53.09.  Freshman Samantha Swenson was 116th in 24:05.22 while senior Elli Beige was 153 in 24:49.42.

"The women, one through seven, ran great," Milner said. "There's not a person in that group that didn't run a personal best."

MSUM will make a return to Joplin on Nov. 21 for the national meet. The national championships will be held on the exact same course as the region meet was.