Tartans Win NCAA Mideast Regional

(NEWVILLE, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's cross country team won the NCAA Mideast Regional on Saturday, November 15 with 90 team points, as Widener University finished with 115 points and Johns Hopkins University with 119 points. The regional title marks the second since 2008 for the Tartans.

Leading the way over the 8k course at Big Spring High School was senior George Degen (Madison, Wis./West). The senior finished eighth overall in a time of 25:15.9 to lead three top-20 finishers for the Tartans.

Behind Degen was junior Brian Bollens (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) in 15th place in 25:35.3 and sophomore Ryan Archer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian Academy) in 17th place in 25:38.3.

Finishing fourth for the Cardinal and Gray was junior Marc-Daniel Julien (Skokie, Ill./Niles West) in 23rd place with a time of 25:48.5. Crossing the finish line two seconds behind Julien was junior Joshua Antonson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) in 27th place.

Junior Eamon Cullinane (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) finished 52nd overall for the race and sixth for the Tartans in a time of 26:14.9 while freshman Ryan Auld (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) was the final finisher for the Tartans as he crossed in 66th place in a time of 26:31.3.

The regional title gives the Tartans automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships which will be hosted by Wilmington College in Mason, Ohio, on Saturday, November 22 with the men's race set to begin at 11:00 a.m.