FORT DODGE - Southwestern freshman Chase Oates finished 16th overall Sunday at the Region XI Championships held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.
Oates, from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, came in 15th out of Region XI Division I runners to earn honorable mention All-Region honors. His 16th-place overall finish also earned him honorable mention All-Conference honors. Oates becomes the second Spartan runner in the past three years to earn all-region and all-conference honors, joining Josh Baudler to accomplish that feat.
Oates crossed the finish line in 27:29.0, his second fastest time of the year at the 8K distance.
"I thought Chase ran a near-perfect race," said Scott Vicker, Southwestern director of cross country/track & field. "The only thing I would have liked to have seen different was for Chase to get out a little bit quicker through the first kilometer. But he still got out in a good position. From there, he never stopped moving up throughout the race. I'm proud of how Chase ran this race."
Freshman Michael Mayer of Clarinda entered the Region XI Championships looking to punch his ticket to the NJCAA Cross Country Championships. Mayer, who had run 28:21.6 at the Spartans' previous meet, needed to run sub-28 minutes in order to qualify for nationals. Mayer came through the halfway mark of the race right on pace, but came up short of the qualifying mark. He finished 30th overall in 28:38.2 for his second-best time of the season.
"I know Michael was disappointed in not hitting the qualifying standard, but he still ran a great race," Vicker said. "He executed his race plan to perfection; he just ran out of steam in the second half of the race. The course ran a little longer than 8K, and based on splits I have seen, it looks like from 4K to 5K was where it ran a little long. That's where Michael fell off pace. Even though he and Chase didn't run their PRs, based on knowing the course was a little long, and also seeing where they finished in relation to people who beat them at our previous meet, I would say this was by far their best race of the season."
Ben Olson finished 67th in 32:51.8, Jonathon Hackett 74th in 36:02.4, and Joe Sonntag 78th in 48:02.1 to round out the scoring for the Spartans. Southwestern finished fourth in Division 1 with 117 points, edging out Scott Community College by three points. The Spartans were 35 points behind third-place Indian Hills.
The team portion of Southwestern's season came to a close at the Region XI Championships, while Oates will continue his season at the NJCAA Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, Nov. 12.
"I can't say enough about these guys and their hard work this season," Vicker said. "Ben, Jonathon, and Joe are the epitome of great teammates. When we became shorthanded during the season because of injuries, they stepped up so that we could continue to score as a team at our competitions. Their willingness to do that meant a lot to me as a coach."
