Complete Results

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Junior Bobby Over capped the 2012 cross country season with the highest national finish ever by an Allegheny runner, and the Gators rode that scintillating performance to a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships on the Lavern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

A third-year standout from Wadsworth, Ohio, Over settled into second after the first half-mile of the 8,000-meter circuit and stayed in that position for the duration of the race. As eventual champion Tim Nelson of Wisconsin-Stoudt broke away at the 3k, Over was forced to finish the second-half of the race by himself as the space between the top four runners as well as the ensuing chase pack was surprisingly large. Although Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf made a push to overtake Over down the stretch, he was unable to make a pass as Over closed as the national runner-up behind the fastest time by an Allegheny harrier at the NCAA Championships.

“I'm very proud of our guys,” said Head Coach Brent Wilkerson. “We improved 11 spots from the pre-race rankings and finished as the second team from our region. Bobby was just incredible today, and we'll travel home with plenty of reason to be excited.”

Over clocked 24:34.8, eight seconds off an individual national title, while rookie teammate Logan Steiner also delivered a superb effort to help position Allegheny inside the top 15 at nationals for the sixth time in seven years. Finishing 36th overall, Steiner was the top freshman finisher in the national field after traversing the course in 25:06.8, while his performance also marked the best NCAA rookie finish in team history. 

In a race were every individual place had an impact in the congested team standings, the Gators received solid performances from their entire contingent. Senior Kevin Edwards finished third for Allegheny with at time of 25:51, while sophomore James Rynes split 26:05. Senior Brennan Hamilton capped off a greatly-improved senior season by closing out the Blue and Gold's scoring with a time of 26:21.

Helping the team to its 14th national appearance all-time, including the program's eighth straight showing, Jack Denison (26:35) and Alex Simon (26:46) also pieced together a good race.

“Our guys put in a tremendous amount of work this year, and we've laid the ground work for another outstanding year next year. Logan finishing as the top freshman in the country is huge, and this was exactly the kind of team effort we needed to get the program back on track in pursuit of a top 10 national finish.”