Juli Accurso continues to be Juli Accurso.
The senior cross country runner won the NCAA Great Lakes Regional for the second consecutive year Friday, clocking a time of exactly 20:00 for the 8k race, which is a program record. She won the meet last year with a time of 20:07.
As a team, the Ohio women placed 15th out of 33 teams that competed in the Madison, Wis., meet, which met coach Clay Calkins’ expectations.
“It’s a tall order to be a three-time MAC (Mid-American Conference) champ and come in and replicate that against the best teams in the region,” Calkins said.
“You’re dealing with all the best athletes, and she stepped up. Distance runners in the future will aspire to be her.”
The next Ohio runner to cross the finish line was sophomore Caroline Hildebrand, who finished 76th with a time of 22:04. Hildebrand won the Ohio Invitational on Sept. 14.
Calkins credited Hildebrand for her hard work and improvement throughout the season, saying, “That’s what we want our athletes to do.”
Senior Melissa Thompson was the third runner to crack the top 100 out of 227 total runners, with a time of 22:24 in 97th place.
On the men’s side, the Bobcats finished 14th out of 31 teams.
“It was good competition and a solid performance,” Calkins said. “It’s good to make the board.”
Sophomore Jacob Stephens was the top Ohio runner. He finished the men’s 10k race with a time of 32:13, which placed him 68th overall.
Ohio senior Chase Robinson finished the race in just 32:30 to capture 81st place. Sophomore Jarrod Genther was 91st (32:47), and sophomore Jake Gentile finished 103rd (33:05).
Michigan dominated at the championships, winning on the men’s and women’s sides, and the individual male champion was Indiana State redshirt sophomore John Mascari with a 30:05 time.
Accurso’s next meet—the NCAA Nationals—will take place Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
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This article appeared in print under the headline "Cross Country: Accurso wins race, qualifies for nationals."
Correction: In Monday's cross country article about the NCAA Great Lakes Regional races, we incorrectly stated that the women's race was 8 kilometers. The race was actually 6 kilometers.
The article also stated that men’s cross country runner Jacob Stephens is a sophomore. He is a junior.
