Drury University

A berth in the NCAA-II Cross Country Championships is at stake for the Drury men's and women's squads when they compete Saturday in the Midwest Regional race in Somers, Wis.

Saturday's action, which begins at 10 a.m. with the women's 6K race (and the men's 10K to follow at 11 a.m. will send the top three teams from both the men's and women's races and the top two individuals not on those qualifying teams to the NCAA-II Championships on Nov. 21 in Evansville, Ind., hosted by GLVC member Southern Indiana.

Coach Jon Van Arkel's DU men's squad, ranked 24th nationally, is coming off a second-place finish - to USI - in the GLVC Championships two weeks ago and should be a strong contender for one of the three team spots in the NCAA-II Championships, which would be a first for the program. 

Junior Jaime Villa Zapatero, winner of the past two GLVC titles individually, finished second in the region last year (leading the Panthers to a fifth-place team finish) and went on to finish 20th as an individual at the NCAA meet. Junior Derek Berry has also had a strong season, finishing second in the GLVC/MIAA Challenge and fifth in the GLVC Championships in his two most recent efforts.

The DU women, who finished eighth at last month's GLVC meet, will be trying to improve upon last season's 17th-place finish at the regionals, led by a 53rd-place finish from current sophomore Katie Berkbigler. Seniors Stephanie Cowherd and Kim Shegeno were 25th and 36th, respectively, to lead the Panthers in the conference championships.