WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue cross country teams head to the Great Lakes Regionals on Friday in Madison, Wis. The Boilermakers will send eight women and eight men to the event, which will be contested at the Thomas Zimmer Championships Course.
On the men's side, Matthew McClintock will lead the way. The junior finished second at the race last year, on the same course, with a time of 30:07 in the 10,000-meter race. That time is a Purdue regional record. McClintock's second-place finish from a year ago was also Purdue's top finish at the Great Lakes Regional, which dates back to 1997. He will look to qualify, whether as a team or individual, for the third-straight year.
David Dalton will run alongside McClintock. Dalton, a freshman, was the second finisher among Boilermakers at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago. Caleb Kerr will also compete, and has been among the top three most of the season, including at the Big Ten Championships. Tyler Wynn and Dillon Hinen are also scheduled to run at the regional, and both also scored at Big Tens. Andrew Cartwright, Jeremy Craven and Alex Milner will also make the trip.
Last year, Kerr was second among Boilermakers at the regional. He finished with a time of 31:40 and took 48th overall. Cartwright is the only other Boilermaker who competed in the men's regional race last season, and he finished 90th with a time of 32:47.
On the women's side, the Boilermakers look to be led by freshman Kendall Hacker who has been running very well as of late. Hacker was the women's team's top finisher at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 21:10.1. Sophomore Kiara McIntosh has also been running well, and she was second for Purdue two weeks ago with a 41st-place finish and a time of 21:11.4. Sharise Lund and Hope Schmelzle were Purdue's third and fourth finishers, respectively, at Big Tens, and look to be among the top finishers on Friday for the Boilermakers. Gabrielle Broschard, Katie Hoevet, Kristin Fritts and Michelle Potter will also make the trip.
Potter, Fritts and Lund all competed for the Boilermakers at the regional last season. Potter was the top finisher among the group with a 69th-place finish, third for Purdue. Fritts and Lund were 86th and 95th, respectively, and sixth and seventh for Purdue.
The top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. Additional teams and individual participants will be chosen through an at-large selection process, which will be announced on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.
Friday's action is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET with the women's 6,000-meter race. The men's 10k will follow at 2 p.m. Results will be posted to PurdueSports.com following the races.