Tommie Cross Country completes first ever NCAA Midwest Regional

STILLWATER, Okla. – St. Thomas Cross Country completed its first complete NCAA postseason eligible season Friday at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The men placed 22nd of 30 teams, led by junior Max Westerlund, while the women finished 23rd of 32 teams, paced by sophomore Olivia Pauly.

WOMEN'S RECAP
Pauly capped her season as the Tommies' top finisher, placing 80th overall (79 points) in 22:06.9. Freshman Lindsay Berg continued the postseason with a 94th-place finish (92 points) in 22:19.5, while fellow first-year Layla Vennink took 132nd (128 points) in 22:47.2.

Sophomore Sophie Yetter crossed in 160th place (154 points) with a time of 23:07.6, and sophomore Emily Baker rounded out the Tommie scoring pack in 172nd (166 points) at 23:17.4.

Host Oklahoma State won the regional title, followed by Northwestern and Iowa State, which secured second and third, respectively.

MEN'S RECAP
Westerlund paced St. Thomas with an 83rd-place finish (83 points), crossing in 32:40.9 to lead the Tommies. Freshman Casey Poppler capped his debut year with a strong regional performance, placing 112th (112 points) in 33:11.0, followed closely by junior Joe McNeil, who finished 115th (115 points) in 33:13.4.

Junior Adam Lueth took 127th (126 points) in 33:34.6, while sophomore Ethan Foote completed the scoring lineup in 133rd (132 points) at 33:39.3, helping the Tommies total 568 points in the team standings.

All five Tommie scorers competed at the 10K distance for the first time in their careers.

Host Oklahoma State won the regional championship, with Iowa State placing second and Oklahoma finishing third.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Pete Wareham's thoughts following the NCAA Midwest Regional:
"I am very proud of our team and how they competed today. We were hoping for a top 20 finish and were very close. This was our first regional meet and the guys handled it well. They kept moving up throughout the race. With respect to our league schools, we improved considerably compared to two weeks ago. We closed the gap on the top three teams at the Summit League Championships and we would have finished higher up in the league standings. This is the kind of determination and progress we want to build upon with our young team. Overall it was a good year with our returners improving and with a strong group of freshmen."

Head Coach Ashley Lucas's thoughts following the program's first full NCAA-eligible season:
"I thought we competed well today. We got out a little timid, but then made some moves. I'm proud of the team and how they fought to the finish. With such a young team and our first taste of being at regionals, I thought that this group gained a ton of experience that we can apply to the future. Our top seven are all back next year and more hungry than ever. We have some ladies this year who were unfortunately sidelined by injury that I know will contribute, a great recruiting class coming in and I know the returners will just continue to get stronger. We have big goals and expectations for the future and that future is looking very bright."

FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Cross Country, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieXCTF. For more information on St. Thomas Men's and Women's Cross Country, follow along on Instagram at @tommiemtfxc and @tommiewxctf. Tommie Athletics is now on TikTok at @TommieSports.

-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Tommie Cross Country completes first ever NCAA Midwest Regional

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baker

Ethan Foote

Adam Lueth

Joe McNeil

Olivia Pauly

Casey Poppler

Layla Vennink

Max Westerlund

Sophie Yetter

University of St. Thomas Athletics