AMES, Iowa – Zach Wiedeman led the way for the Western Illinois cross country teams at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Regional Championships. Wiedeman finished the 10K race in 32:40.89.

Ryan Wojdyla also ran well, setting a new personal record in the 10K, besting his previous mark by more than a minute.  

“The guys ran well. They probably had the best race of the year which over 10K is a good sign,” said head coach David Beauchem. “Weideman and Trenton Hopper ran pretty well. Ryan had his personal best. We raced a lot better than we've been racing. It was a good way for the seniors to finish. We competed against some good teams and we beat some good teams. We're really happy about that.”

Mark Holt finished nine seconds behind Wiedeman, with Chase Marlow finishing a minute behind Holt.

On the women's side, Lydia Smith finished the 6K race in 23:07.73 and Madison Lefler crossed the line in 23:52.83. Mackenzie Gray rounded out the Leatherneck finishers with a time of 24.48.48.

With the completion of the cross country season, the athletes now focus on the upcoming indoor track and field season.

“We're going to run some of the cross country kids on the track right away,” Beauchem said. “We were pretty steady through the cross country season. We knew we were thin so we had to be a little conservative during cross country.”

The first meet for Western Illinois will be Friday, Dec. 6 at Iowa State.