HOLLAND, Mich. – First-year runner Andrew Bill will have to wait to find out if he has qualified to run as an individual in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship.
Bill finished 16th in the Great Lakes Regional meet at the West Ottawa Golf Club Saturday, reaching the 8K finish in 25:13.6. He shaved 36 seconds off his season best time, originally 25:49.7 in Louisville, Ky., at the beginning of October.
Bill and another first-year runner, James Weekley, achieved all-region status to lead Albion to a seventh place finish in the team standings. Weekley was the 34th runner to finish, crossing the line in 25:42.1. Albion's 218 total was 26 off the pace set by sixth-place Case Western Reserve University.
"The men had their best race of the season," Coach Derick Lawrence said. "The guys did a great job of getting out from the start and getting in good position by the mile marker.
"If our region qualifies four teams or more for nationals, Andrew will make it as an individual," he added.
Albion's third to fifth runners – Andrew Wittland, Kurt Swaton and Alex Dermody – were separated by 15 ½ seconds. Wittland was 45th, reaching the finish in 26:01.5. Swaton achieved a time of 26:10.7, and Dermody 26:17.0.
Kiehl Smith (26:46.1) and Adam Ditri (27:02.5) completed the Britons seven-man lineup.
