Contact: Taiah Gallisath-Poklop, Associate Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5302
Written by: Jack Lindsay, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, jlindsay@noctrl.edu

Rock Island, Ill. (Nov. 14)—The North Central College Cardinals came in as the third ranked team in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association Midwest Regional poll and sought to show why they should be ranked higher. They were able to accomplish that placing first at the NCAA Division III Regional Championship. Along with their first-place performance, the Cardinals earned six All-Regional honors.

Daniel Kasperan led the way for North Central placing in second with a time of 24:06.3. Kapseran hovered between fifth and third throughout the race before pushing into second for the final 2000M. This is Kasperian's first career All-Region award.
Behind Kaseprian was teammate BJ Sorg, who earned his fourth career All-Region honor and placed in third, finishing the course in 24:06.6. Today's race marked Sorg's highest Regional placement of his career. Sorg never exited from the top three throughout the entire race.

The third of three top five placements for North Central was Ricky Klein, finishing fifth with a time of 24:22.6. Klein entered the final 4000M in seventh place but jumped into fifth with a 6:08.3 for final 2000M. This race marks Klein's first All-Region honors.

Rylan Deichen finished the course in 24:46.5, placing in 20^th and Jack Galminas placed 29^th with a time of 24:57.5. Galminas and Diechen both climbed as high as tenth during the race but ultimately settled in at their respective placements. This is Diechen's first All-Region recognition and Galminas' second.

Ari Elmayan finished in 35^th to secure All-Region honors with a time of 25:04.3. Elmayan ran the first 4000M in the top ten before concluding the race at the 35^th. This is Elmayan's first All-Region recognition, improving upon his 40^th place finish in last year's contest.

Nolan Crooks finished in 40^th with a time of 25:11.1.

With their victory, North Central earned the automatic qualifier to the Division III National Championship held in Northfield, Minn. This will be their 53^rd consecutive National Championship appearance.