Youngstown State University
NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship
11/11/2026 10:45:00 AM | Cross Country
The postseason continues for the Youngstown State men's and women's cross country teams this Friday at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, hosted by Michigan State.
Race Information:
Course: Forest Akers East Golf Course
Spectator Parking: 1712 Farm Lane, East Lansing, MI 48824
Gates Open: 8 a.m.
Race Times: 10 a.m. (Women's 6K) / 11 a.m. (Men's 10K)
Women's Preview
Nine women will make the trip to compete in the 6K scheduled for 10 a.m. Cecelia Chase, McKinley Fielding, Maggie Hopple, Lillian Katsaras, Erica Kaulen, Caleigh Richards, Megan Stafford, Brady Sterbling and Julia Wheeler are set to compete Friday.
All nine women competed in the Penguins' runner-up finish at the Horizon League Championships in Clinton, Pa., on Oct. 31. Entering the regional race, the Penguins rank 13th in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Rankings, moving up two spots from their Week 5 ranking.
This season marks the first time in program history the women have been ranked among the top 15 teams in the Great Lakes Region throughout the regular season, including reaching a program-best 12th ranking during Week 4.
Fielding, Hopple, Katsaras, Richards and Stafford all competed in the 2025 regional championships, where the team placed a program-best 16th with 461 points in a 32-team field. Individually, Fielding led the team with a 42nd-place finish, followed by Richards in 75th out of 231 competitors.
Fielding's 42nd-place finish matched the program's best individual finish, set by Anna Pompeo at the 2013 Great Lakes Regional Championships.
Stafford placed 142nd, Hopple finished 146th and Katsaras placed 167th.
Chase, Kaulen, Sterbling and Wheeler will all make their regional debuts Friday.
Last Time Out
At the Horizon League Championships, the women finished second, just one point behind Robert Morris. Fielding was the runner-up in her final conference race, Richards posted a career-best conference finish in fourth and Kaulen placed sixth to round out the Penguins' All-Horizon League First Team selections.
Kaulen was the highest-placing freshman in the field and was named the league's Women's Freshman of the Year.
Hopple and Stafford both recorded career-best conference finishes, placing 10th and 11th, respectively, to earn All-Horizon League Second Team honors.
The Field
Notre Dame has held the top spot in the Great Lakes Region throughout the regular season after entering the year as the preseason favorite. Toledo has maintained the No. 2 spot for the entirety of the regular season, while Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan have interchanged the remaining spots in the top five.
The rest of the field includes Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Butler, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Cleveland State, Dayton, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Indiana State, IU Indy, Kent State, Marquette, Miami (Ohio), Milwaukee, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne, Southern Indiana, Valparaiso, Western Michigan, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Wright State and Xavier.
Men's Preview
Nine men will make the trip to compete in the regional 10K at 11 a.m. Friday, including Patrick Burgos, Josh Jones, Owen Brady, Owen Scott, Sage Vavro, Blaze Fichter, Caleb Prettyman, Brock Farris and Connor Shingleton.
All nine competed at the Horizon League Championships, where the men captured their fifth consecutive conference title. In the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Rankings, the Penguins sit at No. 13, ahead of Big Ten program Ohio State at No. 14 and fellow Horizon League member IU Indy, which rounds out the top 15.
The highest the men were ranked this season was ninth in the preseason rankings.
Vavro, Fichter, Farris, Brady and Burgos all competed in the 2025 regional race, where the team finished 12th with 388 points in a 30-team field. Vavro was the Penguins' second-highest finisher, placing 57th, followed by Fichter in 74th and Farris in 97th to round out the team's top-100 finishers.
Brady and Burgos placed 131st and 173rd, respectively.
Hunter Christopher holds the highest individual finish at the regional championships with his 11th-place finish in 2024, recording a 10K time of 29:29.0, which also stands as the school record. The 2024 season also marked the Penguins' highest team finish at the regional championships, placing ninth.
Shingleton returns to the regional championships for the first time since 2024, while Jones, Prettyman and Scott will make their regional debuts.
Last Time Out
The men won their fifth consecutive Horizon League title at the championships on Oct. 31. Burgos led the men with a career-best third-place finish, followed by Jones with a conference-best fifth-place finish.
Brady recorded a career-best seventh-place finish at the championships, while Scott placed eighth in his first conference race, making him the highest-finishing first-year runner and earning him the league's Male Freshman of the Year honor.
Vavro matched his conference-best finish from 2023 in ninth, Fichter placed 11th and Prettyman finished 15th.
Burgos, Jones and Brady were all named to the Horizon League First Team, while Vavro, Scott and Fichter were named to the league's Second Team.
The Field
Wisconsin has held the No. 1 ranking in the Great Lakes Region in five of the six weeks of the regular season, including entering the season as the preseason favorite. Notre Dame has been ranked second, except for Week 3, when the Fighting Irish moved ahead of the Badgers for the No. 1 spot.
Michigan State (No. 3), Butler (No. 4) and Michigan (No. 5) have all held their respective positions in the rankings throughout the season.
The rest of the field includes Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Indiana, Indiana State, IU Indy, Kent State, Marquette, Miami (Ohio), Milwaukee, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne, Southern Indiana, Toledo, Valparaiso, Green Bay, Wright State and Xavier.
NCAA National Championships
The road to the NCAA National Championships begins at the regional races. The top two teams from each of the nine regions automatically qualify for the national championships, giving 18 teams a spot. The NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee will then select 14 additional teams to complete the 32-team field.
For individual runners, the top four finishers who are not on a qualifying team will advance to the national championships. Each runner must also finish within the top 25 of their region. This brings the individual field to 36 runners.
The NCAA will then select two more individual runners from the regional races who were not already qualified. These selections go to the highest-finishing individuals who did not qualify through the automatic process, bringing the total to 38 individual runners.
The 2026 NCAA DI Men's and Women's Selection Show is scheduled for Sat. Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
The National Championships will take place on Nov. 21 at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., hosted by Indiana State.
