Region Award Winners in Division III Announced for 2012 Cross Country

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Wednesday the winners of USTFCCCA Region Athletes and Coaches of the Year honors for the 2012 cross country season in Division III as voted by the division’s coaches.

Rose-Hulman will host the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships from the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course outside of Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday. The men’s 8k race is slated for 11 a.m., eastern, while the women’s 6k will go off at Noon, eastern. NCAA.com will broadcast the national championships live.

USTFCCCA Division III Cross Country Region Athletes and Coaches of the Year

Men’s Athletes of the Year

ATLANTIC REGION – Alex Brimstein, SUNY Geneseo
A senior from Webster, N.Y., Brimstein won the Atlantic region title in 25:14, two seconds ahead of the field. Brimstein won this fall’s SUNYAC crown in leading his team to the league title.

CENTRAL REGION – Grant Wintheiser, St. Olaf
Wintheiser, a sophomore from Sartell, Minn., won the Central race by nearly ten seconds in leading the Oles to the region crown. He won the MIAC crown by more than 20 seconds where St. Olaf also picked up the team title, and he finished third at both the Roy Griak Invitational and Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer meet.

GREAT LAKES REGION – William Jones, Franciscan
A senior from Green Bay, Wis., Jones picked up the Great Lakes crown by outdistancing Calvin’s Dan Kerr in a close dash to the finish line. He’s won his last four races, including the AMCC Championship where he was the winner by over two minutes.

MIDEAST REGION – Bobby Over, Allegheny
Over, a junior from Wadsworth, Ohio, was the winner of the Mideast regional by 13 seconds over Haverford’s Chris Stadler. It was his second-straight regional crown. The Gator was this year’s champion of the North Coast Athletic Conference crown and picked up crowns at the Dickinson Long/Short Invite and the Bill Sudeck Classic.

MIDWEST REGION – Tim Nelson, UW-Stout                                                                
A senior from Augusta, Wis., Nelson won the Midwest in a close race ahead of the North Central duo of Yonatan Mascote and Dan Kerley. He claimed the WIAC title by 25 seconds and won the DIII section of the Roy Griak Invitational. He also placed in the overall top 40 and as the top DIII athlete in a stacked field full of DI athletes at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational.

NEW ENGLAND REGION – Coby Horowitz, Bowdoin
A junior from Stow, Mass., Horowitz pulled out the New England title in a tight three-way race to the finish with teammate Samuel Seekins and Middlebury’s Jack Davies. The regional individual win helped his squad to finish second as a team and qualify for the NCAA meet. Horowitz also claimed the NESCAC title this year and was sixth at the All-New England Championships.

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGION – John Kieffer, Centre
Kieffer, a junior from Dublin, Ohio, won the regional title in a five-second victory over Lynchburg’s Cody Stanton. He also won the inaugural Southern Athletic Association title with a three-second victory.

WEST REGION – Zorg Loustalet, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
A freshman from Malin, Ore., Loustalet held off teammate Bennett Naden and Occidental’s Colin Smith for the regional crown in a race that had the top five runners finish within five seconds of each other. Earlier in the fall, he placed fifth in the SCIAC Championship and 12th at the Pre-National Championships.

Women’s Athletes of the Year

ATLANTIC REGION – Amy Cymerman, St. Lawrence
Cymerman, a junior from Pittsford, N.Y., took the region crown by ten seconds in leading her squad to the Atlantic team title. She also led St. Lawrence to a Liberty League team title with the individual crown and she placed second individually at the NYSCTC Championships.

CENTRAL REGION – Linda Keller, Minnesota Morris
A senior from Hawick, Minn., Keller won the Central region in 21:31 – five seconds ahead of Wartburg’s Alana Enabnit. She’s undefeated in five races this season, picking up crowns at her conference meet – the UMAC and the Roy Griak Invite among others.

GREAT LAKES REGION – Alison Steinbrunner, Ohio Northern
Steinbrunner, a senior from New Carlisle, Ohio, has won her previous three races, including the Great Lakes regional where she dominated the field with a 37-second victory. She claimed the OAC by a wider, 41-second margin and she was the champ of this fall’s UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invite.

MIDEAST REGION – Hannah Oneda, Johns Hopkins
A freshman from Westminster, Md., Oneda was the winner of the Mideast by over five seconds and led the Blue Jays to the regional title. Oneda has won five races this fall, including the Centennial League crown and Pre-National Invitational.

MIDWEST REGION – Christy Cazzola, UW-Oshkosh
Cazzola, a senior from Kaukauna, Wis., repeated as the Midwest champ by winning this year’s race by nearly ten seconds with a 20:51 6k clocking. She claimed the crown at the WIAC Championships as well this fall.

NEW ENGLAND REGION – Keri Lambert, Amherst
Lambert, a senior from Amherst, Mass., has won the last four races in which she has competed, including the New England region crown by nearly 20 seconds on the field. She was the winner of the NESCAC title by 47 seconds and claimed the Little Three race as well this fall.

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGION – Sophia Stone, Mary Baldwin
A junior from Pacific Palisades, Calif., Stone claimed the regional crown via an eight-second victory on the field. She’s undefeated on the season which includes a championship run at the USA South Conference this fall.

WEST REGION – Lenore Moreno, La Verne
Moreno, a senior from West Covina, Calif., took the West with a six-second victory over Cal Lutheran’s Melissa Skiba. She was the champion of the SCIAC Championships and Multi-Duals and claimed the league title by nearly 50 seconds.

Men’s Coaches of the Year

ATLANTIC REGION – Nick McDonough, NYU
In his 15th season as head coach, McDonough led the Violets to the Atlantic Regional title.  The NYU men enter the NCAA Championships ranked fifth in the latest USTFCCCA poll.

CENTRAL REGION – Phil Lundin, St. Olaf
The St. Olaf men captured both the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Central Region Championships in 2012.  Lundin, in his fifth season, leads the 17th-ranked Ole’s into the NCAA Championships.

GREAT LAKES REGION – Brian Diemer, Calvin
Diemer, in his 27th season, led the Knights to their 26th-consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title.  The third-ranked Calvin men also captured their 17th straight regional crown.

MIDEAST REGION – Tom Donnelly, Haverford
The Fords enter the NCAA Championships as number one ranked team, after capturing Centennial Conference and Mideast Regional titles.  Donnelly is in his 38th season at the helm of Haverford’s cross country program.

MIDWEST REGION – Al Carius, North Central (Ill.)
Carius is in his 47th year leading the Cardinals.  North Central enters the NCAA Championships ranked second after capturing College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and Midwest Regional titles.

NEW ENGLAND REGION – Nicole Wilkerson, Middlebury
In her second year as head coach at Middlebury, Wilkerson led the men’s team to their first ever regional title.  The Panthers are ranked fourth in the latest USTFCCCA poll.

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGION – Doug Thomasey, Lynchburg
Thomasey led the Hornets to Old Dominion Athletic Conference and South/Southeast Regional titles in 2012.  The third year head coach’s teams have won three straight regional crowns.

WEST REGION – John Goldhammer, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps captured the 2012 West Regional title to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships.  Goldhammer, in his 29th year, has led the Stags to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and a top-ten national ranking.

Women’s Coaches of the Year

ATLANTIC REGION – Mike Howard, St. Lawrence
The Saints won their fourth-straight Atlantic Region crown to finish the regular season ranked sixth nationally. The 14th year veteran saw his team win the Liberty League with a total of only 19 points.

CENTRAL REGION – Steve Johnson, Wartburg
Tied for eighth in the national poll, the Knights won their second Iowa Intercollegiate title and second Central Region title in as many years for their coach of 24 years. 

GREAT LAKES REGION – Mark Northuis, Hope
The Flying Dutch qualified for their third-straight national competition after winning the Great Lakes title. In his 25th year leading the helm, Northuis lead his team to a runner-up finish at the MIAA Championships earlier this fall.

MIDEAST REGION – Bobby Van Allen, Johns Hopkins
After leading his Blue Jays to their fifth-consecutive Centennial conference and Mideast regional titles, the 14th-year veteran enters the national championships as coach of the second ranked team in the nation. 

MIDWEST REGION – Dan Schwamberger, UW-Eau Claire
The seventh-ranked team won the Midwest Region to earn their eighth straight appearance at the national championships. The Blugolds coach led his squad to a sixth-consecutive WIAC title in as many years at the helm. 

NEW ENGLAND REGION – Halston Taylor, MIT
The top team in the nation placed four runners among the top 12 to win the New England Region crown. The Engineers have won the NEWMAC title in each of Taylor’s six years.

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGION – Derick Lawrence, Trinity (Texas)
The Tigers won their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title with a perfect score of 15 points. In his first year, Lawrence also led the squad to a regional title and final regular season ranking of 19th.

WEST REGION – John Goldhammer, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
In his 29th year leading the Athenas, Goldhammer lead his team to a West region title and finish fourth in the regular season rankings. Earlier this fall, CMS had three runners place among the top five overall to bring home another SCIAC title.