Nicole Blaesser Wins NCAA East Region Title; Jorge Medina Also Qualifies for Nationals

Women's Team Standings
Men's Team Standings
Complete Individual Standings

Nicole Blaesser captured the NCAA Division II East Region individual title in dominating fashion Saturday, posting a 52-second victory over rival Rachael Lenzel of Edinboro.

Blaesser (right) earned a spot at nationals in two weeks at Pensacola, Fla., and will be joined there by teammate Jorge Medina, who placed third in the men's meet.  Individuals finishing in the top five who are not on a team qualifier make the trip to nationals.

Blaesser set a course record with a 6K time of 21:43.75 on Slippery Rock's Cooper's Lake Campground layout and will be making her third appearance at nationals and first as an individual.  She turned the tables on Lenzel after finishing second to her at the PSAC Meet last week.

The senior from Oxford, Pa., is a four-time all-region performer, topping her previous best finish of fourth place from a year ago.  She was 49th at nationals last November.

Medina (left) covered the 10K distance in a time of 32:21.45 to become the first IUP men's runner to reach nationals since Chris Bell in the early 1990s. 

He trailed only Ryan Blood of Lock Haven, who also won the PSAC Meet last week, and Slippery Rock's Jeff Weiss, who was third at nationals last year.

Medina, a senior from San Jose, Calif., is on the all-region team for the second consecutive year after finishing ninth last year.

Three other IUP runners finished in the top 30.  On the women's side, Stacie Stockard was 22nd (24:12.85) and Maureen Newell was 24th (24:16.10).  Eric Kruttschnitt placed 28th in the men's competition (34:24.40).

Rounding out the IUP women's runners were Laura Blaesser (40th, 24:55.20), Erica Hoffman (66th, 25:41.15), Marissa Umbel (79th, 26:05.95) and Audrey Serfes (125th, 27:48.30).

The remainder of the IUP men's entries were Nate Shelly (58th, 35:16.40), Bobby Boston (70th, 35:41.35), Chad Phares (83rd, 36:08.15), Adam Shinsky (106th, 37:18.05) and Matt Gaudet (109th, 37:28.10).

The field included 189 women's runners representing 32 teams while the men had 182 runners from 30 schools.

As a team, the IUP women were fifth and the men were 10th.  The top two teams advance to nationals, with Kutztown and Edinboro qualifying for the women and Lock Haven and Edinboro making the cut for the men.

The IUP women had 153 points, trailing Kutztown (51), Edinboro (58), Slippery Rock (95) and Bloomsburg (121). 

With a total of 236 points, the IUP men were behind Lock Haven (49), Edinboro (88), Shippensburg (104), East Stroudsburg (167), West Virginia Wesleyan (168), Bloomsburg (172), Clarion (194), Concord (196) and Slippery Rock (233).