October 21, 2022 | by Taylor Pill

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The second NCCAA North Region Cross Country Championships are the only thing on the mind of both Sabercats Cross Country teams, who are set to defend a couple of NCCAA Regional titles in Ankeny, Iowa this weekend.

The meet will be held on the Faith Baptist Bible College campus tomorrow with the schedule as follows:

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REGIONALS IN CONTEXT

Due to the Cross Country National Championship structure, the North Region Championship has no unusual implications for NCCAA Nationals qualifying other than it presents another chance to meet the individual- and team-qualifying times, just like any other meet.

While the regional championship is not recognized by the NCCAA as an official postseason event, all-region awards, the title of "region champion", and serious bragging rights are all on the line in Ankeny this weekend. Maranatha won both titles in 2021, which was the first time since 2008 that the regional championships had been held.

SOUND BITE

"We expect the men's field to be deeper than last year with more complete teams," said Head Coach John Warnke. "So it should be a competitive battle at the top between us and Oak Hills. In the women's race, we should have a good performance, particularly at the top end with Amber battling for the all-region positions. And we have a couple more, if they're healthy, could definitely mix it up - Kate [Nutzhorn] and Anna [Morken] are definitely on the cusp of that.

"Last year, both teams made significant improvements over the pre-race projections just by competing and finding their targets early in the race, racing competitively, and breaking some of their opponents. I think if we put ourselves in the position again this year, both of our teams can improve significantly over what it looks like on paper."

LINKS/INFORMATION

RESULTS :: MEN'S 8K MAP :: WOMEN'S 5K MAP :: DIRECTIONS

PARTICIPANTS

Below is a brief overview of the field. Most of the teams listed below are either competing as an incomplete team (and therefore are not eligible for team placements) or they at least haven't submitted a complete team score to the NCCAA National Office during the 2021 season.

To see the reported times this season, follow the links below:

MEN'S TIMES :: WOMEN'S TIMES

2021 RECAP

RACE RECAP :: RESULTS 

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To follow the races, follow @MBUSabercats on Twitter and visit mbusabercats.com/schedule.