Men's Results | Women's Results | GameDay Preview

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The last portion of the Saint Mary's University cross country schedule as been has easy as 1-2-3 for Cardinal junior Katie Stolz (Forest Lake, Minn.).

Well, maybe not "easy," but 1-2-3 all the same.

1. Stolz broke the school's six-kilometer record at the UW-La Crosse Tori Neubauer Invitational on Oct. 19, stopping the clock in 23:25.

2. In the Cardinals' next week two weeks later, Stolz was at it again, breaking her own mark with an all-conference time of 23:23 at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Nov. 2.

3. And Saturday, Stolz made it 3-for-3, racing to yet another school-record time of 23:14 at the NCAA Central Regional Championships - an effort that not only earned her a 23rd place finish, but also All-Region honors.

"Katie ran an outstanding race," understated SMU coach Ward Berndt, noting that Stolz became the first female runner to earn all-region honors during his nine years at the helm. "She's been running so well the latter part of the season - and this was just a perfect way for her to cap a great year."

Not to be outdone by his female counterpart, Aaron Haley (Plainview, Minn.) - also coming off a school-record, All-MIAC performance at the conference championships - joined Stolz on the All-Region platform Saturday, clocking a time of 26:09 to place 35th overall.

Fueled by Stolz's record-setting performance, the Cardinal women placed 19th in the 27-team field, while the Haley-led SMU men finished 15th among the 26 men's teams.

Wartburg was crowned the women's regional champion, outdistancing runner-up Carleton by 18 points, while host St. Olaf was third. Luther and St. Scholastica rounded out the top five. St. Scholastica's Chelsea Johnson won the women's 6K race in a time of 21:10, with St. Olaf's Noelle Olson placing second in 21:30.

On the men's side, St. Olaf ran away from the rest of the field, posting a 10-point win over runner-up Central (Iowa), with Luther, Carleton and Loras completing the region's top five. Eli Horton of Central (Iowa) earned the men's individual title, touring the 8K course in 24:35, to edge the St. Olaf pair of Grant Wintheiser (23:39) and Jake Brown (24:47).

Allie Thiel (Burr Ridge, Ill.) was the second Cardinal to cross the finish line in the women's race, clocking a time of 24:29, while Bridget Hayes (Chicago, Ill. / 25:04), Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn. / 25:27) and Katherine Mockler (Dubuque, Iowa / 25:48) completed SMU's top five.

Jovan Newsum (Glendale Heights, Ill.) completed a solid freshman season for the SMU men with a time of 27:25 Saturday, followed by John Soucheray (Woodbury, Minn. / 27:56), Gabe Theil (Berlin, Wis. / 27:59) and Sherman Moga (Shoreview, Minn. / 28:56).