Galligan-Ryan W&J Cross Country Duo Places 13th At NCAA Mideast Regional
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Junior Scott Ryan (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville East) and freshman Kristen Galligan (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) both earned 13th-place finishes Saturday at the 2011 NCAA Division III Mideast Cross Country Regional hosted by DeSales University.
Both runners are expected to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship field (Nov. 19, Oshkosh, Wisc.) when the national committee selects its championship runners on Sunday at 2:00 pm. Ryan and Galligan would become the first two cross country runners in school history to compete at the national championships.
After at-large teams are selected from each region, the top seven finishers from schools other than one of those teams from each region are awarded at-large spots in the national championship field. Both Ryan and Galligan are in good position to claim one of the seven at-large spots.
The Presidents’ men took 29th place in the 47-team field, while the women grabbed 31st of 47. Haverford won the men’s regional title, while Johns Hopkins was victorious on the women’s side.
Dickinson sophomore Taylor Ludman captured the women’s 6K title in a field of 335 runners with a time of 22:33. Allegheny junior Bobby Over was the men’s 8K winner among 328 competitors after running the course in 25:25.
Ryan continued his standout season by posting a time of 25:59, a five-minute, 24-second pace. Galligan posted a time of 23:22 (6:26 pace).
Sophomore Kia Ruhkamp (Laura, Ohio/Milton-Union) notched the women’s squad’s second-best finish in 80th place (28:09), while sophomore Nicole Montecalvo (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) ran 27:57 and placed 235th.
On the men’s side, junior Benjamin Kopchick (Clarksburg, Pa./Saltsburg) claimed 109th place (28:09), while freshman Joshua Makepeace (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) was 166th (29:00).
