Eric Atkinson will soon be making his third trip to the NCAA Divison II Cross Country Championships in four years. The University of Minnesota Duluth senior earned that right by placing eighth out of a field 132 runners at Saturday's NCAA II North Central Regional in Vermillion, S.D. Atkinson, who also qualified as an individual at the NCAA II Championships in 2006 and was a member of the Bulldog team which competed in the event one year earlier, covered the 10-kilometer course in a time of 30:54.
Atkinson will be accompanied to the NCAA II national meet, which is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo., by sophomore Liz Palkie, who finished 11th with a 6-kilometer time of 21:52. Palkie joins Sara Frederickson (2004), Tammy Stang (2001 and 2000), Katie Huntley (1998) and Lynn Stottler (1986) in the select group of Bulldog NCAA II Championship qualifiers.
The top five men's and women's teams and the first two individuals not from one of those five schools all advanced to the NCAA II Championships.
Finishing behind Atkinson for the UMD men was senior
John Kallemeyn (39th place; 32:34),junior
Nate Anderson(45th; 32:50), and sophomores
Mike Kramer (49th; 32:56) and
Zach Varty (53rd; 33:04). Defending champion Western State College won the men's team title with 45 points, while Adams State College settled for a close second (46 points) followed by Minnesota State University-Mankato (89), Colorado School of Mines (97), New Mexico Highlands University (149), Metropolitan State College (184) and UMD (194) occupied the next five spots.
On the women' side, Palkie was followed by the UMD sophomore duo of
Greta Stangl (52nd; 23:10) and
Katelyn Meger (55th; 23:17) in the 155-runner competition. Freshmen
Whitney Hines (66th; 23:32)
Rachel Hanzal (82nd; 23:52) were the other point getters for UMD, which came within three spots of securing a berth in NCAA II nationals, settling for eighth place among 23 schools. Adams State successfully defended its NCAA II North Central Regional crown by placing five of its runners among the top ten finishers for a team score of 28.
