Mindy Sawtelle Wins East Region Individual Title, Leads Women to Berth at Nationals

Complete Women's Results
Complete Men's Results

Mindy Sawtelle set a course record to take the top individual spot, leading IUP to a second place finish at the NCAA Division II East Region Meet at Lock Haven.

The IUP women earned a spot at the NCAA national meet in two weeks at Pomona, Calif.

Sawtelle covered the 6K distance in a time of 21:01 and was named the Athlete of the Meet.  She was joined on the all-region team by Nicole Blaesser, who was fourth in 22:04.

Edinboro won the team competition with 33 points, outdistancing IUP, which finished with 98.  Kutztown also earned a berth to nationals by finishing third with 105 points.

Rounding out the top five were Bloomsburg (113) and Mansfield (191).

The IUP men did not fare quite so well, placing seventh with 215 points.  The Indians trailed Edinboro (59), Lock Haven (69), Shippensburg (90), Slippery Rock (140), Alderson-Broaddus (194) and East Stroudsburg (209).

Jorge Medina was the top IUP men's runner, finishing ninth in the 10K race with a time of 31:56 and was the lone IUP athlete to be on the all-region team.

The IUP women return to nationals after missing out last year, although Sawtelle qualified as an individual.  The team went to nationals in 2003 when they were second in the region and in 2002 when they took the region title.

Scoring for IUP after Sawtelle and Blaesser were Erica Hoffman (28th, 22:57), Katie Farnsworth (29th, 22:58) and Charlene Wirfel (36th, 23:12).

Rounding out the seven-woman team were Stacie Stockard (47th, 23:28) and Meaghan Strong (76th, 24:21).

The men had two other runners in the top 50, including Eric Kruttschnitt (40th, 33:28) and Adam Shinsky (47th, 33:45). 

Other runners were Bryan Bellinger (57th, 34:05), Matt Gaudet (62nd, 34:15), Chad Phares (72nd, 34:38) and Nick Hornick (77th, 34:46).