Team Results
Individual Results
COOPERS LAKE, Pa. – Senior Jeramie Parker finished second overall at the 2010 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional, although the team endured its most disappointing day of the season as the Gators fell to fifth overall at the national-qualifying meet. Allegheny was denied an automatic bid to the national championship and will need to hope for an at-large berth if it hopes to replicate its third-place finish from last year.
Parker earned All-Region honors for the second consecutive year, finishing the rolling 8k in 25:09. Haverford senior Anders Hulleberg broke the tape in 24:59 while leading the nationally-ranked No. 5 Fords to the team title.
The Gators, who secured their highest national ranking in program history last week, employed a deliberately slow start to Saturday's run and the strategy back-fired on the senior-laden lineup. The cautious pace for the opening mile raised little concern for the Allegheny faithful, although a lack of movement between miles one and three signaled a surprising setback for a team gunning for a national crown.
Ryan Sullivan ran 25:48 and finished 19th overall en route to All-Region accolades, although the 40 second gap between Allegheny's top two finishers was the largest this season. Chris Marker also earned a spot on the All-Region team. The reigning Mideast Regional champion finished 33rd overall in 26:08.
Junior Pat McLaughlin split 26:22 to close in 37th place while sophomore Mike Vlah passed through the chute in 26:36 to close out the Allegheny scoring. Seniors Zac Ross and Andrew Mahone were the non-scorers for the Gators. Ross was well off the pace from his NCAC Championship performance, closing in 26:43, and Mahone ran 27:04 to finish 72nd out of the 316 runners in the field.
“It's really difficult to explain today's result,” lamented head coach Brent Wilkerson. “Our game plan didn't materialize like we hoped it would, and we picked the wrong time to have a bad day.”
By finishing fifth out of 50 teams, Allegheny will have to wait for word from the NCAA Selection Committee on Sunday to find out if it will be included in the national championship picture. Allegheny has an impressive body of work and had previously defeated every team in the region. The Gators also have favorable results against teams with great showings at other regional meets.
