McVey wins NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional, leads No. 18 Men's Cross Country to third place finish
By Scott Beaton
POWELL — Junior Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls) took the individual crown in 25:11.0, leading the 18th-ranked Ohio Northern men's cross country team to a third place finish at the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional at Liberty Park on Saturday afternoon.
McVey, the individual winner of OAC Championships and All-Ohio Championships, became the first men's runner in school history to win the regional meet.
The Polar Bears (113-19 overall) scored 123 points to finish third, while Calvin (Mich.) won the meet with 61 points and DePauw (Ind.) took second with 111 points.
McVey and senior Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./De La Salle) punched their tickets to the NCAA Div. III National Championships as they each finished in the top-7 individuals, respectively.
Molinaro raced to 6th place in 25:34.2 and senior Bobby Borger (Perrysburg) placed 13th overall in 25:49.8. Both runners earned USFTCCCA Great Lakes All-Region honors by finishing in the top-35.
Senior Sam Boyd (Killbuck/West Holmes) finished 41st in 26:33.0 and junior Spencer Schulze (St. Henry) placed 62nd in 26:53.7 to round out the scorers for ONU.
"This was a really solid race for us up front," said head coach Jason Maus. "Our top-3 guys were outstanding today and really had a great races. Even the middle of the pack for us battled hard and performed well today. This was just an exciting meet and we are proud of this group. McVey became the first men's runner in school history to win the Regional Meet and he continues to get better. Molinaro really had a great race for us too. Just really happy for these guys and how they continue to fight."
The top-2 teams in the eight regional meets across the country earn automatic bids to next weekend's NCAA Div. III National Championships in Elsah, Ill. Sixteen more teams will earn at-large bids to complete the 32-team field.
Northern will see if it earns an at-large bid on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3 pm as the 32-team field for the National Championships meet is released.
Team Standings
1. #13 Calvin (Mich.) 61, 2. #31 DePauw (Ind.) 111, 3. #18 Ohio Northern 123, 4. Mount Union 148, 5. Albion (Mich.) 160, 6. John Carroll 207, 7. Case Western 235, 8. Trine (Ind.) 239, 9. Allegheny (Penn.) 250, 10. Otterbein 334, 11. Wabash (Ind.) 338, 12. Rose-Hulman (Ind.) 353, 13. Baldwin Wallace 432, 14. Hanover (Ind.) 460, 15. Ohio Wesleyan 474, 16. Hope (Mich.) 486, 17. Wooster 489, 18. Heidelberg 503, 19. Earlham (Ind.) 518, 20. Denison 582, 21. Franklin (Ind.) 662, 22. Bluffton 666, 23. Alma (Mich.) 682, 24. Manchester (Ind.) 701, 25. Kenyon 715, 26. Oberlin 727, 27. Wittenberg 737, 28. Olivet (Mich.) 738, 29. Anderson (Ind.) 776, 30. Kalamazoo (Mich.) 780, 31. Capital 814, 32. Spalding (Kent.) 850, 33. Wilmington 916, 34. Adrian (Mich.) 995, 35. Muskingum 1006, 36. Mount St. Joseph 1121
Top-5 Individuals
1. Ian McVey (ONU) 25:11.0, 2. Domininc Patacsil (Wabash) 25:11.7, 3. Andrew Philipose (Calvin) 25:16.3, 4. Sam Merriman (Case Western) 25:22.1, 5. Polo Burguete (DePauw) 25:31.9
Ohio Northern Individual Results
1. Ian McVey 25:11.0, 6. Matt Molinaro 25:34.2, 13. Bobby Borger 25:49.8, 41. Sam Boyd 26:33.0, 62. Spencer Schulze 26:53.7, 90. Travis Sutter 27:19.2, 111. Jordan Green 27:36.5