Heidelberg Men Come in Fourth at Regionals; Women Come Out Strong

Following their fourth place finish at the Great Lakes Regionals held at Calvin College, the Heidelberg College men’s cross country team, under the leadership of head coach Kevin Lucas, will be finding out Sunday, November 11 at 3 p.m. if they have earned a spot at the NCAA National Championships. It would be the fifth time the program has made an appearance at the race since 1997, the last time was in 2006.

The women end their season with a strong showing at the race. They finished in 23rd place, ahead of Ohio Athletic Conference opponents Capital University and Muskingum College, and just one point behind OAC member Wilmington College.

The men finished only behind Calvin, Ohio Athletic Conference foe Ohio Northern University, and Anderson College (Ind.) respectively, while fellow OAC opponent Mount Union College finished behind the Berg to round out the top five.

Dan Simpson (Leetonia, Ohio / Leetonia) led the way for the Berg, finishing 12th in the 8k race with a time of 25:22.6. Devin Butcher (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green) came in 20th and Scott Lasch (Huron, Ohio / Huron) in 24th in times of 25:38.35 and 25:43.3. Jacob Lemon (Oak Harbor, Ohio / Oak Harbor) finished .3 seconds behind Lasch for a 25th place finish, while Jarrod Saling (Caldwell, Ohio / Caldwell) placed 47th for the Berg in 26:06.8.

For the women, Erica Tenwalde (Ada, Ohio / Lima Shawnee) finished the 6k course in 91st place with a time of 24:19.35. She was followed by Ninette Ruch (Toledo, Ohio / Notre Dame Academy) in a time of 24:58.3, while Rachael Hoover (South Euclid, Ohio / Brush) recorded a time of 25:03.45. Wendy Sumser (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) and Tabitha Grim (Sullivan, Ohio / Black River) rounded out the pack for the Berg and finished in times of 25:14.95 and 26:05.15 respectively.