Friday, November 11
Terre Haute, Ind./ LaVern Gibson Course
10:00 a.m.
University of Toledo
vs
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Joy Chirchir (center in pink) and Faith Linga (right in pink) finished in fifth and 10th, respectively, at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Friday morning.
Photo by: Xavier Gallo
Rockets Run to Sixth-Place Finish at NCAA Great Lakes Regional
11/11/2022 4:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Sophomore Joy Chirchir finished in fifth place to lead the No. 16 Toledo women's cross country team to a sixth-place team finish at the 2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. on Friday.
Chirchir crossed the finish line at 20:12.3, followed by senior Faith Linga (10th place) to round out the top-10 and earn all-region honors. Senior Madeline Vining finished 28th and was followed by her sister Emily Vining in 39th-place. Next for the Rockets was senior Lou Trois (48th), followed by junior Julia Dames (58th), and freshman McKinley Fielding, who came in 79th-place in her first NCAA regional race.
"It has been a wide range of emotions today," head women's coach Andrea Grove-McDonough said after the meet. "I am really proud of our program, proud of the women. I feel really validated by the results. We're that close and that good. I know that we had beat some of those teams head-to-head and therefore we were ranked No. 2, but I also knew that those teams had gotten better and we were all so close. I think today's results provided it. I think that it proves that Toledo and those top Big Ten teams are all interchangeable on the day. If we were to race again tomorrow, I absolutely think that the results would have all flipped.
"I think we were brilliant up front today. Faith Linga and Joy Chirchir continue to find their best races up the stretch here. I thought Faith had her best race at the MAC Championships and today she was even better. They both really executed the game plan perfectly this time around. Their finishes today bode really well for them to try and be All-Americans at the NCAA meet."
Toledo finished with 131 team points. Notre Dame won the race with 34 team points, followed by Ohio State (111 pts.). Both automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship meet next Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. Toledo will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it is one the teams going to Stillwater as an at-large selection.
"I looked at the results throughout the country today and I feel really good about the position we're in. Every measure that I've seen so far today has projected us well into the national meet," said Grove-McDonough. "That would be very rewarding considering the great performances we've had throughout this season. Once we officially get announced to the national meet, the goal doesn't change. To be the top-20 at the NCAA meet, I think we can do that.
"The ultimate goal is one more step and we're finally there. We've been talking about this for a long time as a program. I feel like we're still looking to put together that race where everyone walks away feeling good about it. What I do love about this group is that at different meets and times this year, different people in the lineup have held the group up and we've been able to get away with a couple performances that haven't been our best. The program is looking to go from good to great, and absolutely we have made such great strides from where we were a year ago. We are continuing to grow, continue to get comfortable with how good we are and how good we can be competing against these teams."
The NCAA Cross Country Selection Show will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5:00 p.m. and can be seen live at NCAA.com.
2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship
Terre Haute, Ind. | LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
Friday, Nov. 19
Women's 6K Team Results
1. Notre Dame – 34 pts.
2. Ohio State – 111 pts.
3. Michigan – 116 pts.
4. Michigan State – 124 pts.
5. Wisconsin – 129 pts.
6. Toledo – 132 pts.
7. Indiana – 164 pts.
8. Butler – 267 pts.
9. Purdue – 307 pts.
10. Ohio – 313 pts.
11. Miami – 339 pts.
12. Cincinnati – 352 pts.
13. Western Michigan – 367 pts.
14. Dayton – 417 pts.
15. Eastern Michigan – 420 pts.
16. Milwaukee – 501 pts.
17. Central Michigan – 508 pts.
18. Bowling Green – 517 pts.
19. Xavier – 524 pts.
20. Oakland – 603 pts.
21. Youngstown State – 614 pts.
22. Ball State – 690 pts.
23. Kent State – 706 pts.
24. Akron – 712 pts.
25. Marquette – 726 pts.
26. IUPUI – 744 pts.
27. Indiana State – 780 pts.
28. Wisc.-Green Bay – 807 pts.
29. Wright State – 826 pts.
30. Detroit Mercy – 845 pts.
31. Valparaiso – 916 pts.
Top-5 Individual Runners
1. Olivia Markezich, Notre Dame – 19:54.1
2. Addie Engel, Ohio State – 19:57.8
3. Kaite Osika, Michigan State – 20:04.5
4. Siona Chisholm, Notre Dame – 20:07.0
5. Joy Chirchir, Toledo – 20:12.3
Toledo Individual Finishes
5. Joy Chirchir – 20:12.3
10. Faith Linga – 20:17.1
29. Madeline Vining – 20:47.6
39. Emily Vining – 21:03.7
48. Lou Trois – 21:10.8
58. Julia Dames – 21:21.1
79. McKinley Fielding – 21:56.3
Chirchir crossed the finish line at 20:12.3, followed by senior Faith Linga (10th place) to round out the top-10 and earn all-region honors. Senior Madeline Vining finished 28th and was followed by her sister Emily Vining in 39th-place. Next for the Rockets was senior Lou Trois (48th), followed by junior Julia Dames (58th), and freshman McKinley Fielding, who came in 79th-place in her first NCAA regional race.
"It has been a wide range of emotions today," head women's coach Andrea Grove-McDonough said after the meet. "I am really proud of our program, proud of the women. I feel really validated by the results. We're that close and that good. I know that we had beat some of those teams head-to-head and therefore we were ranked No. 2, but I also knew that those teams had gotten better and we were all so close. I think today's results provided it. I think that it proves that Toledo and those top Big Ten teams are all interchangeable on the day. If we were to race again tomorrow, I absolutely think that the results would have all flipped.
"I think we were brilliant up front today. Faith Linga and Joy Chirchir continue to find their best races up the stretch here. I thought Faith had her best race at the MAC Championships and today she was even better. They both really executed the game plan perfectly this time around. Their finishes today bode really well for them to try and be All-Americans at the NCAA meet."
Toledo finished with 131 team points. Notre Dame won the race with 34 team points, followed by Ohio State (111 pts.). Both automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship meet next Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. Toledo will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it is one the teams going to Stillwater as an at-large selection.
"I looked at the results throughout the country today and I feel really good about the position we're in. Every measure that I've seen so far today has projected us well into the national meet," said Grove-McDonough. "That would be very rewarding considering the great performances we've had throughout this season. Once we officially get announced to the national meet, the goal doesn't change. To be the top-20 at the NCAA meet, I think we can do that.
"The ultimate goal is one more step and we're finally there. We've been talking about this for a long time as a program. I feel like we're still looking to put together that race where everyone walks away feeling good about it. What I do love about this group is that at different meets and times this year, different people in the lineup have held the group up and we've been able to get away with a couple performances that haven't been our best. The program is looking to go from good to great, and absolutely we have made such great strides from where we were a year ago. We are continuing to grow, continue to get comfortable with how good we are and how good we can be competing against these teams."
The NCAA Cross Country Selection Show will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5:00 p.m. and can be seen live at NCAA.com.
2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championship
Terre Haute, Ind. | LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
Friday, Nov. 19
Women's 6K Team Results
1. Notre Dame – 34 pts.
2. Ohio State – 111 pts.
3. Michigan – 116 pts.
4. Michigan State – 124 pts.
5. Wisconsin – 129 pts.
6. Toledo – 132 pts.
7. Indiana – 164 pts.
8. Butler – 267 pts.
9. Purdue – 307 pts.
10. Ohio – 313 pts.
11. Miami – 339 pts.
12. Cincinnati – 352 pts.
13. Western Michigan – 367 pts.
14. Dayton – 417 pts.
15. Eastern Michigan – 420 pts.
16. Milwaukee – 501 pts.
17. Central Michigan – 508 pts.
18. Bowling Green – 517 pts.
19. Xavier – 524 pts.
20. Oakland – 603 pts.
21. Youngstown State – 614 pts.
22. Ball State – 690 pts.
23. Kent State – 706 pts.
24. Akron – 712 pts.
25. Marquette – 726 pts.
26. IUPUI – 744 pts.
27. Indiana State – 780 pts.
28. Wisc.-Green Bay – 807 pts.
29. Wright State – 826 pts.
30. Detroit Mercy – 845 pts.
31. Valparaiso – 916 pts.
Top-5 Individual Runners
1. Olivia Markezich, Notre Dame – 19:54.1
2. Addie Engel, Ohio State – 19:57.8
3. Kaite Osika, Michigan State – 20:04.5
4. Siona Chisholm, Notre Dame – 20:07.0
5. Joy Chirchir, Toledo – 20:12.3
Toledo Individual Finishes
5. Joy Chirchir – 20:12.3
10. Faith Linga – 20:17.1
29. Madeline Vining – 20:47.6
39. Emily Vining – 21:03.7
48. Lou Trois – 21:10.8
58. Julia Dames – 21:21.1
79. McKinley Fielding – 21:56.3
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Cross Country
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/ Women's Cross Country
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/ Women's Cross Country
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/ Women's Cross Country
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