The Cross Country program hit the course of DeSales University to participate in the NCAA Mideast Regional, a race which had implications for any bids Muhlenberg runners would receive to race at the National meet in Winneconne, Wi.

Corey Mullins ‘19 was the only active member of the program who had participated at a previous national cross country event. This time Mullins finished twentieth, a finish which earns the established distance runner a spot on the all-region team. Mullins has earned all-region honors in three cross country seasons.

As a team the men finished seventeenth in the Mideast. This is the second highest finish for the men in the last four seasons, with their best finish at eighth in 2016 and their lowest finish of twenty first in 2017.

In the women’s six kilometer race two freshmen topped the leaderboard for the Mules. Abby Dalton ‘22 and Marielle Avola ‘22 placed twelfth and nineteenth respectively, finishing under 30 seconds apart from each other.

The impressive finishes by the young Mules guaranteed Dalton a bid to nationals, and Avola just missed a spot as well. Avola needed both Carnegie Mellon and Haverford — the third and fourth place finishers at the regional meet — to earn at large bids for the national event. Unfortunately only Carnegie Mellon could capture the at-large bid, leaving Haverford and, in turn, Avola without a ticket to Wisconsin.

As a whole the women finished in the top 10 in their field of 47, their first time cracking the top ten since the 2015 season when they finished eight.

This was the third time the Mules have run in Center Valley, Pa (where DeSales is located), more than they have in the past three seasons.

As Dalton continues to prepare for Winneconne the rest of the program turns their sights on the winter track season which kicks off at Lehigh University on Dec. 1.

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