DEKALB, Ill. -  Sophomore Michael Castel represented the Western Illinois cross country team at the NCAA Midwest Regional competition on Saturday (November 12). The meet featured several nationally ranked teams including: No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 18 Minnesota and No. 27 Tulsa.

Castel crossed the line at 33:21.13 in the first 10K race of his collegiate career. His performance was good enough for a 76th place finish out of a total of 171 participants.

"Michael ran a solid race," head coach David Beauchem said. "He had some struggle with the 10K distance, but he closed very well over the last 2K of the race. This was a great season for Michael. He improved through each of his races, and we are looking forward to the transition to the track and field season."

Oklahoma State edged out Oklahoma by a margin of three points to earn the team title. Tulsa placed third, Minnesota fourth and Illinois rounded out the top five in team scoring. Senior Hassan Mead of Minnesota crossed the line first at 31:16.87 to earn the individual title.