JOPLIN, Missouri – The Ouachita women's cross country team closed out the 2024 season with a top 10 finish at the 2024 NCAA DII Central Region Championships Saturday Morning.
The newly crowned GAC Champion Tigers placed 10
th out of 31 teams with 291 points and finished first out of the nine Great American Conference members competing in regionals. The 10
th place finish is the highest in program history and five spots higher than last season's results.
Allison Hylkema was the top runner for the Tigers for the second meet in a row. Hylkema finished 23
rd overall in the 6k race with a personal best time of 21:46.04. The Jackson, Tennessee native earned All-Region honors for her performance today, putting herself in the history books as the program's first ever all-region performer.
The next Tiger across the finish line in the 6k was
Katelynn Nachtigal in 53
rd with a time of 22:21.29.
Mackenzie Davis was right behind in 54
th (22:21.61) and was followed by
Macie Cash in 77
th (22:45.77), and
Jaci McGregor in 87
th (22:56.07) to round out the top five Tigers.
As previously mentioned, Ouachita finished highest of all competing GAC teams with 291 points. East Central was the next highest member, placing 13
th with 381 points. Oklahoma Baptist was next in 14
th (430), followed by Arkansas Tech in 15
th (440), Southeastern Oklahoma State in 19
th (541), Harding in 20
th (571), Southern Arkansas in 24
th (696), Northwestern Oklahoma State in 28
th (825) and Southern Nazarene in 31
st (853).
Augustana (S.D.) won the 2024 DII Central Region Championship with a score of 82 points. Pittsburg State placed second with 110 points and University of Mary (N.D.) came in third with 116 points to round out the top three.
The Tigers wrap up a successful 2024 campaign that included the program's second GAC Championship in three years. Ouachita won four of the six meets this season, picking up victories in the Bob Gravett Invitational, West Florida's Argonaut Invitational, Tiger Invitational, and GAC Championships. The women never finished lower than 10
th in any meet this season.
