AU’s Mark Allen qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships Nov. 17 at Louisville following his strong performance at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals Nov. 9 at Penn State.
Allen led all Eagle runners at Penn State, recording a seventh-place finish in a field of 170 competitors.
Allen is the first man to qualify for nationals for the Eagles since 2007, when Brendan Fennell and Steve Hallinan accomplished the feat.
The last time an AU runner qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships was 2010, when then-junior Octavia Rinehardt finished 125th out of 253 runners.
Allen has consistently been one of the top runners for AU throughout the fall. At the Patriot League Championships, the senior finished second out of 76 runners. He also placed second in October’s Leopard Invitational at Lafayette.
John Pope was the second Eagle to cross the finish line, coming in 16th. The junior received All-Region honors to wrap up a noteworthy fall campaign. He earned a victory in the season-opening Colgate Invitational, placed second at George Mason and finished just behind Allen at Lafayette.
Most recently, Pope was named to the Cross Country Academic All-Patriot League Team, marking the fourth time in his career he has earned the honor.
Eagle teammate Nick Regan finished 22nd at Penn State, joining Allen and Pope in being recognized on the All-Region team to give AU three honorees for the first time since 2007.
Mark Leininger placed 49th and Constantine Matsakis 51st to round out the AU runners.
Georgetown won the event, finishing with 56 points to edge out second-place Villanova. Princeton totaled 61 points to fill out the top three, with the Eagles finishing fourth in the 25-team event.
Both the men and women will begin the indoor track season with the Navy Invitational. The men’s event will be held Dec. 1, with the women competing Dec. 6.
esaltzman@theeagleonline.com
