The men’s and women’s cross country teams brought their season to a close at the 2022 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship on Saturday in Holland, Mich. Despite snow and temperatures in the 30s, both teams had respectable performances, with the men’s team placing 22nd out of 38 teams with 621 team points and the women’s team placing 24th out of 34 teams with 721 team points.
The men’s team produced their best finish since 2015, when they earned 21st place at the event. Keegan Minahan ’24, who has led the Owls throughout the season, was the first Owl to finish the 8K race with a career-best time of 25:31.4. His performances earned him 71st place out of 271 runners. Joshua Breard ’26 finished second for the Owls in 25:56.7, also a personal best, to earn 96th place. According to Breard, the team embraced the adverse conditions and entered the race committed to running their hardest. “Before the race, my coach told me that it was time to go into ‘Hurt Locker,’ which really just [meant I was] going to have to empty the tank on the last race and it didn’t matter what conditions we were going to run in,” he said. “It was still going to be a tough, painful race if [we] gave it [our] best.”
The women also performed well, but they faced another adversity in the absence of their top runner, Anna Harnsberger ’23, who is currently injured. Alice Riley ’23 led the Owls in the 6K event and finished the course in 23:40.5 to earn 91st place out of 245 runners. Anna Brown ’26 followed behind to finish in 24:21.0, a personal best, to place 124th.
The women’s team will say goodbye to three seniors this year, all of whom Brown noted will be greatly missed. “Not only are they all talented runners, but they are amazing individuals who together have made this team feel more like a family,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian.
Riley, co-captain of the team with Harnsberger, reflected on the bittersweetness of running her final cross country race and the significant role her teammates have played in her collegiate athletic career. “I’ve had such an amazing experience competing in this sport for the past 10 years,” she wrote in an email. “I feel incredibly grateful to everyone who’s been part of this journey with me.”