TO YOUR MARKS
The Washburn Ichabod men's and women's cross country teams will start the postseason this weekend in Joplin, Mo. at the NCAA Central Regionals at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course on the campus of Missouri Southern.
 
RACE COVERAGE
Live results: https://www.midwesttiming.com/november-25.html
NCAA Championship Page: https://mssulions.com/feature/2025xcregion
 
TIMING
The women's 6K race will begin at 10 a.m. and the men's race is a 10K starting at 11:15 a.m. with the awards presentation set following the competition.
 
WHO IS GOING
Scheduled to compete for the Ichabod women's squad will be Riley Britton, Jordyn Cleary, Grace Collins, Jolie Evans, Lexie Fontaine, Rylee Ismert, Kyla Lochtefeld and Ebba Wetterberg.
The men's lineup will consist of Alex Adams, Sebastiaan Horselenberg, Donald Kibet, Adrian Lehman, Lukas Mehl, Shane Mullen, Sam Nesbitt, Tommy Roehl, Ludovico Vaccarri and Trent Zimbelman.
 
WASHBURN NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Washburn Ichabod men's squad is ranked third in the USTFCCCA Regional poll behind Northwest Missouri and Pittsburg State and have been third in all seven regional polls so far this season. The Ichabods men are No. 14 in the sixth national poll after sitting 17th in last week's poll.
 
MIAA PRESEASON POLLS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabod men's cross country team was picked fourth and the women's squad was picked in seventh in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Polls that were released prior to the start of the season.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
MEN
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Led by junior Donald Kibet's third-place finish, the No. 17 Washburn men's cross country team finished third overall at the MIAA Championships on Saturday morning in Pittsburg, Kan.
Kibet clocked a time of 24:31.75 to earn all-MIAA honors for the third time in his Washburn career, just 15 seconds off the race winner from Northwest Missouri. His effort anchored a tight Ichabod pack, as Washburn placed all five scoring runners inside the top 20.
Sebastiaan Horselenberg was next across in 17th (25:22.14), followed by Tommy Roehl in 18th (25:27.30), Alex Adams in 19th (25:29.05) and Ludovico Vaccari in 20th (25:29.40). The group's 65-second spread and strong mid-pack cohesion helped Washburn total 77 points — comfortably ahead of Missouri Southern (124) and Nebraska-Kearney (135). All four runners following Kibet picked up all-MIAA honorable mention honors.
Shane Mullen placed 25th (25:37.05) and Lukas Mehl took 32nd (25:59.31) as the Ichabods' sixth and seventh finishers, further emphasizing the team's depth.
No. 7 Northwest Missouri captured the team title with 54 points, placing all five scorers in the top 21. No. 14 Pittsburg State finished second with 65 points, led by three runners in the top 10.
WOMEN
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The Washburn women's cross country team turned in a solid effort against a deep MIAA field, placing seventh overall with 161 points behind a strong pack performance led by Kyla Lochtefeld, who earned a 17th-place finish with a time of 22:19.44 to earn all-MIAA honorable mention honors.
Lexie Fontaine followed close behind in 19th (22:24.19), also earned honorable mention all-MIAA honors for the first time in her career, giving the Ichabods a pair of top-20 finishers.
Grace Collins placed 40th (23:03.26), Rylee Ismert was 41st (23:05.34), and Jolie Evans rounded out Washburn's scoring lineup in 44th (23:11.91).
Riley Britton took 46th (23:18.50), and Jordyn Cleary finished 48th (23:23.95) to complete the team's strong pack performance.
Fort Hays State's Emily McCullough won the individual title in 20:57.80, while Pittsburg State captured the team championship with 55 points, edging Rogers State (56) and Nebraska-Kearney (71) in a tight top-three battle.
 
UP NEXT
The next meet is the NCAA National Championships for those individuals and teams who qualify in Kenosha, Wisc. at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course.