The Ohio Wesleyan men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meet, to be hosted by Hope College on Saturday at West Ottawa Golf Club in Holland, Mich., seeking to advance to next week's NCAA Division III championship meet.
The Battling Bishop men's team finished fourth at the 2016 North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet. Junior John Sotos (Dublin/Coffman) repeated as a first-team All-NCAC selection.
At last year's regional meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Sotos was one of 3 Bishop runners who won all-region honors, with his seventh-place individual finish leading Ohio Wesleyan to a fifth-place finish in the team standings. Sotos qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division III championship meet, where he bounced back after an early collision on the course to finish 73rd overall.
The Ohio Wesleyan women's team placed fifth at this season's NCAC championship meet. Senior Sarah Fowler (Mount Vernon/Fredericktown) won NCAC Runner of the Year laurels for the second straight season and first-team All-NCAC honors for the fourth consecutive year.
Last year at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meet, Fowler was one of 2 Ohio Wesleyan runners who earned all-region citations, finishing sixth among individuals to win all-region honors for the third consecutive season. Fowler advanced to the NCAA Division III championship meet, where she won All-America honors with a 24th-place finish.
The top 2 finishing teams from each regional meet will gain automatic qualifying spots for next week's NCAA Division III championships, to be hosted by Spalding University at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. All other teams will be eligible for an at-large team bid to be extended later this weekend. Both the men's and women's NCAA Division III championship fields will include 16 at-large berths. In addition, 7 individual qualifying spots for both the men's and the women's races will be up for grabs for runners who are not on teams earning berths in the NCAA Division III championships.
NCAA Great Lakes Regional championship site
