Wayne State University Athletics

Libby Price - UIS Athletics

Robin Bresolin made her first regionals appearance on Saturday at Angel Mounds.

Women's Cross Country 11/4/2023 5:47:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Cross Country Fourth at NCAA Midwest Regional

The Warriors fell one position short of an automatic spot in the NCAA Championships.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Race two of the postseason journey for the Wayne State University women's cross country squad was completed on Saturday morning, as the Warriors raced to a fourth-place finish at the historic Angel Mounds course for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

WSU's 135 points finished behind Grand Valley State (28), Cedarville (87) and Lewis (92) in a meet that brought together all three Midwest Region conferences in the the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC).

226 runners started the 6K event, with 223 crossing the finish line. Seven runners represented the Warriors on Saturday in the race (the limit mandated by the NCAA), which was hosted by the GLVC and the Evansville Regional Sports Commission.

GVSU, Cedarville, and Lewis earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships on Saturday, November 18, by virtue of finishing in the top three out of the 32 programs in Evansville. Wayne State fell just short of making it a second straight season of automatic qualification.

Briana Vojinov (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) led the Green and Gold contingent with an 11th place overall finish in the six-kilometer race. Her time of 20:53.30 was the sophomore's best time in a 6K this season.

Coming home 20th was Reagan Justice (Canton, Mich. / Salem) with her mark of 21:08.00, which was also a season-best time in a six-kilometer race. Next up behind Justice was Thailyia Christensen (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing) in 25th. That was also a best this year as the Warriors saved some of their best performances for when it mattered most.

Vojinov, Justice, and Christensen garnered All-Region honors by virtue of their top 25 finish in the race, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)

Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich. / Novi) was 33rd in the field of 226 with a time of 21:34.80 (season-low), while Anna O'Connor (Waterford, Ireland) competed in her first regional for WSU and collected a 46th place effort (21:42.90 - a season-best).

Rounding out the finishing order for Wayne State were Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich. / Northville) in 72nd and Robin Bresolin (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova) in 81st. Both Gordon's 22:09.50 and Bresolin's 22:21.60 were their best 6K times, making it a clean sweep for the seven runners in that area. It was also the redshirt sophomore's first appearance for the Warriors at an NCAA Midwest Regional.

FROM COACH LOFDAHL
"We talked about asserting ourselves and running confidently, and we definitely did that from the start. The timing and live results were a train-wreck all day, but they did briefly work during the women's race and we apparently were nearly tied with Cedarville for third at the halfway point. They ran a great second half, but our second 3K was pretty good too. The conditions were nearly perfect and it's a very fast course, so times were extremely quick out there. Bri ran outstanding, and she has really progressed from a training standpoint and a mental toughness perspective this fall. She ran with a lot of confidence and grit, and her time was the first sub-21:00 6K in school history."
"Reagan was up in the top-20 throughout the race and held on for her second all-region medal, likewise for Thailyia who ran some people down late in the race. Katherine has been very consistent and solid for us all season long and she was again today. Anna didn't feel the best, but she showed some resiliency and hung in there really well to finish the scoring for us."

REGIONAL RANKINGS
Following the action across the country at the eight regional sites, the USTFCCCA released its final Midwest Region rankings for the 2023 campaign. Wayne State was placed fourth in the final list for the season. Below are the final top 10.

1. Grand Valley State, GLIAC
2. Cedarville, GMAC
3. Lewis, GLVC
4. Wayne State
5. Saginaw Valley State, GLIAC
6. Drury, GLVC
7. Parkside, GLIAC
8. Michigan Tech, GLIAC
9. Northern Michigan, GLIAC
10. Southwest Baptist, GLVC

UP NEXT
Since no Warrior automatic qualified based on the results from Saturday's NCAA Midwest Regional, the squad will wait for its fate to be determined via the NCAA Championships selection announcement. The announcement will come on Monday around 3 p.m. There will be eight at-large bids handed out to both teams and individuals within Monday's press release. This season's NCAA Championships for Division II are being held at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo.

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Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Thailyia Christensen: 5' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Emily Gordon: 5' 7"; Junior

Reagan Justice: 5' 4"; Junior

Katherine Ray: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Briana Vojinov: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Anna O'Connor: 5' 6"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Thailyia Christensen
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Emily Gordon
: 5' 7"; Junior

Reagan Justice
: 5' 4"; Junior

Katherine Ray
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Briana Vojinov
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Anna O'Connor
: 5' 6"; Senior