Posted 11/18/2006
UW-Platteville junior Tyler Sigl placed 10th in the NCAA Division III national cross country championships Saturday at West Chester, Ohio, turning in his third straight top 15 finish.
Sigl conquered the sloppy course in 27:04 to grab 10th place and all-America honors. Widener's Macharia Yuot, last year's runner-up, won the 8,000-meter race in 26:31.
The Pioneers' Marcia Taddy earned a top 20 finish and all-America accolades for the second time in three seasons, placing 17th in the women's race with a time of 23:35. Willamette's Sarah Zerzan won the national championship in 22:31 over 6,000 meters.
Middlebury won the women's title by one point, edging Amherst 144-145. Calvin ran away with the men's championship, placing all five runners in the top 13 among those competing for team scores. Calvin had 37 points, compared to runner-up New York University with 92.
The Pioneer men were 26th as a team. Besides Sigl's finish, which counted seventh in the team scores, Nick Fulton was 131st at 29:17, Russ Goessl 153rd in 29:35, Aaron Whalen 161st in 29:41, and Kyle Stangel 162nd in 29:42. Erik Bartelson (30:28) and Cam Klein (31:01) also qualified for and competed in the national championships.
Both Sigl and Taddy won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA III Midwest Regional individual titles. The UWP men were third at regionals to qualify for an at-large berth at nationals, capping off one of the best, if not the best, cross country seasons in Pioneer history.
Related Links