MACOMB -- The Leatherneck cross country teams travel to Oklahoma State University to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Friday, November 9th 2023. A year ago Logan Lommel broke Dan Alberts 10k school record from 1976. This year he is joined by six teammates as they look to improve on their performance from 2022.

Two weeks ago the Leathernecks participated in their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Championship. Sophomore Robert Perry ran the fifth best 8k time in school history; 24:40. Perry and Lommel lead WIU to a seventh place team finish out of 11 participating conference schools.

On the women's side, sophomore Aylana Cezar and junior Aurora Dominguez led the women's program to an eighth place finish. For Dominguez, the trip to Stillwater this weekend is nearly a homecoming. The Dodge City, Kansas native was a 5x National qualifier while competing for Dodge City Community College.

"Only two of the seven competitors this weekend are upperclassmen," said head cross country coach, Trey Brokaw. "This will be great experience for our young squad."

The top two teams at the NCAA Regional Championships will automatically advance to the NCAA National Championships hosted next weekend by the University of Virginia. Similar to college football, a computer generated ranking system based on wins against ranked opponents will select the at-large qualifying teams. Individually, the top four finishers at the Regional Championships, not on a qualifying team and in the top-25 overall, will also advance to Nationals.