Men’s Cross Country Places Third at NCAA Regional

Nov. 11 – (WAYNESBURG, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon men’s cross country team ran in the 2006 Division III Men's Cross Country Mideast Regional at the Greene County Airport in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 11. The Tartans finished with 123 points, good for third place out of 39 teams. Sophomore Brian Harvey’s (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) sixth place finish paced the Tartans in the 268 person eight kilometer race.

Widener senior Macharia Yuot won the race and covered the muddy course in a time of 25:58. Haverford edged out Allegheny by three points for the men’s team title, and both teams automatically qualify for next week’s Division III Men’s Cross Country National Championships. The top two teams from each of the eight regions automatically qualify for the 32-team NCAA Championships and the other 16 team slots will be announced tomorrow at 3 pm. These teams will be chosen by the NCAA selection committee based on a predetermined set of criteria.

Harvey (26:33) as an individual automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships as he was among the top seven individuals not from Haverford or Allegheny (the two automatic team qualifiers). Senior Geoff Misek (Goodrich, Mich.) finished in 19th place with a time of 27:03 and freshman Dario Donatelli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and sophomore Breck Fresen (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) were not far behind Misek. Fresen (24th) and Donatelli (25th) both finished in 27:14, with Fresen holding off Donatelli at the finish line.

Sophomore Mike Haley (North Hills, Pa.) was the all-important fifth runner for Carnegie Mellon and he placed 49th overall in 28:00. Junior Jason Jura (Forrest Hill, Md./Dulaney) crossed the line in 28:56 and placed 98th overall. Sophomore Bill Lordan (Paoli, Pa./Great Valley) finished seventh on the team and 117th overall with a time of 29:22.

Harvey, Misek, Donatelli, and Fresen were all named to the All-Mideast Regional Team, with Donatelli finishing as the second fastest freshman in the race.

The NCAA Division III National Championships will be hosted by Wilmington College in West Chester, Ohio on Saturday, November 18th.