Men's Team Results | Men's Individual Results
Women's Team Results | Women's Individual Results

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Kerrin Epstein (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) placed third among 311 runners to automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, leading the Gettysburg College cross country teams at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Saturday afternoon at Lehigh University.

Both teams turned in impressive finishes on both the team and individual level. The women's squad, which received all-region performances from Epstein and classmate Sarah Fritz (Ledyard, Conn./Ledyard), finished with a score of 195 points to place fifth among 44 teams and is now eligible for a possible at-large bid into the NCAA Championships, which will be held next Saturday at Baldwin-Wallace College.

On the men's side, the Bullets, who were led by an all-region performance from junior Clay Reynolds (Medway, Mass./Worcester Academy), accumulated 220 points and placed eighth out of 45 teams.

Epstein ran a strong tactical race to earn her first trip to nationals. She found herself around 30th place a mile into the 6,000-meter run, and was around 12th at the 3,000-mark. However, she continued to move up and finished only six seconds behind race winner Jenn Cronin of Lebanon Valley College and one second behind Centennial Conference champion Emily Lipman of Haverford College. Epstein clocked a 21:45, five seconds better than her previous personal best set on the same course at the Paul Short Run back on Oct. 2.

“Kerrin ran extremely smart,” said Gettysburg head coach Steve Shutt. “She paced herself well and put herself into position to win with 300 meters left.”

“I am very pleased with how well our team ran today,” said Epstein. “I'm excited to be competing next weekend.”

Epstein, Gettysburg's first national qualifier in cross country since Jaimie Bagatti '04 in 2003, earned all-region honors for the third year in a row.

Fritz captured her second straight all-region award after finishing 18th on Saturday, cruising the course in 22:41. Freshman Christine Esposito (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) took 41st in 23:28 while classmate Kerry Campbell (Carlisle, Pa./Trinity) was 57th in 23:48. Senior Katie Haas (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) rounded out the team scoring, taking 78th in 24:05.

Also running were sophomore Kyler Philbin (Annapolis, Md./Archbishop Spalding), who was 111th in 24:36, and junior Casey Lumpkin (Newtown, Pa./Mt. St. Joseph Academy), who placed 216th in 26:32.

Johns Hopkins University won the team title with a score of 109.

Reynolds came away with his first all-region medal after finishing 33rd in a field of 314 harriers. He scaled the 8,000-meter course in 26:08.

As they have all season, the Bullets ran an outstanding team race, clocking just a 31-second split between the first and fifth runners and a 1:01 split between the top seven. Adrian Macdonald (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) was just eight seconds behind Reynolds, taking 39th in 26:16.

Finishing close behind were junior Dan O'Neill (Monroe, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep), who was 44th in 26:24, senior Jeff Butterworth (Glen Mills, Pa./West Chester East), who took 49th in 26:30, and sophomore Brendan Repack (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack), who completed the team scoring by taking 55th in 26:39.

Other men's competitors were senior Chris McCullough (Havertown, Pa./Malvern Prep), who finished 79th in 26:59, and junior Thomas Daniels (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock), placed 83rd in 27:09.

Allegheny College, led by race winner Chris Marker's 24:54, won the team title with 59 points.