EVANSVILLE, IN – On the team's third trek to Angel Mounds this season, the Greyhound cross country teams competed in the highly competitive NCAA DII Midwest Regional, hosted by Southern Indiana. The men improved their ranking from last season finishing seventh overall, while the women made their way into the top 15 teams at 12th place overall. Lauren Bailey also becomes the first Greyhound from either team to qualify for the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships since 2015.

Bailey was the women's lone All-Region honoree in the women's 6K race, placing third in the field of 216 on a final time of 20:51.9. The race bested her time at last year's Regional by around 25 seconds. Sophomore Melissa Spencer was also featured within the top 64 student-athletes, as her final time of 22:32.7 earned her a 57th place finish. Madelyn Miller (87th; 23:03.6) and Madison Vauters (89th; 23:04.5) also made their way within the top 100 runners in the race.

"Six of our seven ladies ran life time personal best times today," praises head coach Brad Robinson. "Lauren once again raised the bar to prove she's one of the best in the nation, and it's shown through her automatic qualification into NCAAs!"

The men's depth in their roster earned them their first top 10 finish since 2013, featuring all seven competitors within the top 100 runners. Chris Switzer dropped around 14 seconds to make his way into All-Region consideration, finishing 24th overall in the field in his 32:25.0 finish. Switzer wasn't the only Greyhound to drop time from last season's Regional, as Kieffer Vittevow completed his race on a time of 32:55.6, a 24 second drop to finish 34th overall. Nathan Herbst (46th; 33:12.8) and Will Reid (49th; 33:15.6) showed incredible improvements to place within the top 50.

"The men were patient in a race that was out incredibly fast," explains Robinson. "All seven men ran a lifetime best time, in large part to running as a unit. They collectively looked for each other during the race, and we got the top 10 team finish today that we were looking for."

Bailey will take the next two weeks to prepare for the big dance at Sacramento, California, where she'll compete at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course for the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships. The remaining 10 at-large reams and 24 individual student-athletes that will qualify for the NCAA Championships will be announced Monday at approximately 5 p.m. at NCAA.com. The NCAA DII Cross Country Championships will commence on November 23.