by Alan Babbitt
Four Hope College women's cross country runners earned all-region honors during the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Saturday in Westerville, Indiana.
The 18th-ranked Flying Dutch placed fourth out of 33 teams after finishing with 138 points.
"I thought we closed well. We moved up one place in the last 1,000 meters," head coach Mark Northuis said. "We were led by our seniors. Our maturity paid off. They finished well. Hopefully, that's going to be good enough to get us an at-large berth to nationals next week."
Baldwin Wallace College (Ohio) entered the meet ranked seventh in the Great Lakes Region but claimed the regional title with 114 points. Allegheny University (Pennsylvania), ranked sixth in the region, clinched the other automatic bid to nationals with a second-place score of 121 points.
Senior Emily Hamilton of Naperville, Illinois (Naperville North HS) led Hope on the 6K course at Blue River Cross Country Course with a 12th-place run of 22 minutes, 11.9 seconds.
Junior Chelsea Miskelley of Holland, Michigan (Black River) clocked a 24th-place time of 22:45.8.
Junior Kelly Peregrine of Traverse City, Michigan (Traverse City Central) came in 31st by posting a run of 22.57.9.
Senior Avery Lowe of North Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon) took 35th with a run of 23:01.9.
Hamilton, Miskelley, Peregrine, and Lowe all claimed all-region honors by finishing in the Top 35.
Junior Anna Frazee of Watervliet, Michigan (Home School) provided Hope's final points with a 36th-place effort of 23:02.5.
Other Hope runners were freshman Julia Robleski of Wheaton, Illinois (Wheaton Academy) in 66th at 23:34.1 and senior Sarah Neumar of Ann Arbor, Michigan (Huron) in 85th at 23:56.6.
