Nov. 13, 2015 Men's Results 
/ Women's Results
MADISON, Wis. -- Matthew McClintock finished runner-up at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional for the second time in his career. Hope Schmelzle finished seventh on the women's side in just her second regional. McClintock and Schmelzle's finishes earn them automatic bids to the Nov. 20 NCAA Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.
"On the women's side, I was very happy with the team's performance," assistant coach Jeff Kent said. "Every one of them fought from the start to finish. We're in a holding pattern to see if we make nationals. We improved five spots from a year ago, which is excellent. Having two All-Regional performers on the women's side is a nice feather in the cap.
"On the men's side, we didn't have our best day. We wanted to finish higher than we did. We definitely have a lot of confidence heading into the offseason and track season. I thought we made great improvements in endurance and fitness during the year. I'm excited about the direction of both sides."
McClintock ran in a very tight race from start to finish. At the 2,000-meter mark of the 10,000-meter race, McClintock was 13th and within two seconds of the lead. He moved up to sixth place by the 4k mark as the lead group tightened. By the 6k, McClintock was seventh, but within 0.03 of a second of the lead. The senior from Athens, Maine, took the lead at the 7k mark, but eventually was passed by Mason Ferlic of Michigan. McClintock finished second with a time of 30:20.9, just 2.6 seconds behind Ferlic, who McClintock held off to win Big Tens two weeks earlier.
"I've had this goal since I've been here to be the greatest Purdue runner in program history," McClintock said. "This is another step and another credential to try to make that statement by the time I leave here. Me and (Michigan's) Mason Ferlic were side by side with 300 meters to go and certainly I wanted to win, but I knew it didn't matter in terms of qualifying for NCAAs. I definitely wanted to win, but this wasn't my day. He closed really well and got me. The good news is that there's another race next week and I'm looking forward to competing at the national championships."
McClintock's finish advances him to his fourth consecutive NCAA Championships.
"To have Matt qualify for the fourth time was the highlight of the day for us on the men's side," Kent said. "He continues to keep his foot on the throttle and has a big week ahead."
On the women's side, Schmelzle made it seven straight races as Purdue's top runner, dating back to last season's Great Lakes Regional. The junior hung in the top 16 the entire race. Schmelzle was seventh at the 2k mark, while teammates Katie Hoevet and Kendall Hacker were eighth and ninth, respectively. By the 4k, Schmelzle had fallen back to 16th, but was still within reach of the lead pack. She was able to close over the last 2,000 meters and move up to seventh place, and finished with a time of 20:48.9. Her finish was the fourth fastest among non-automatically qualifying teams, which means she automatically qualifies to the NCAA Championships.
Schmelzle is Purdue's first woman to qualify for the championships since 2005 when Lindsay Zinn advanced. Amber Ferner, 2004, and Becky Cotta, 1982, are the only two other Purdue women to have ever toed the line at the NCAA Championships.
"I am so excited and I think this whole season our team has been working towards this," Schmelzle said. "It shows all the work we have all put in. It's really rewarding to see results after all the days of training that have gone into this season. We knew as a team that it was possible to qualify, so I just wanted to finish as high as I could. I wanted to try to put myself in a spot to help the team qualify, and if not, then at least give myself chance to qualify individually. The last 2k was tough, but I kept kicking to see where I could finish."
The women's team still has a shot at qualifying as an at-large team for the championships. The women have been right around the top 30 all season, including receiving votes for the top 30 in the latest poll. The NCAA will announce the 13 at-large selections Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.
Hoevet and Hacker were huge reasons why Purdue was able to finish fifth on the women's side, the program's best finish since 1995 when the Boilermakers took fourth. Hoevet finished 18th with a time of 21:00.2, while Hacker was 29th with a time of 21:16.4. Hoevet's finish earned her All-Regional honors, as did Schmelzle's.
Kiara McIntosh was fourth for Purdue. She finished with a time of 21:36.9. Alyssa Christoffer was the fifth Boilermaker to finish and crossed the line in 21:49.0. All seven Boilermakers finished under 23 minutes for the second consecutive year, even with just one senior (Hoevet) racing.
Michigan won the women's race with 69 points. Notre Dame was second, led by individual champion Molly Seidel, with 79 points. Michigan State was third with 88, while Wisconsin was fourth with 138. The Boilermakers were fifth with 156.
On the men's side, Alex Milner was Purdue's second finisher and took 51st place. He finished with a time of 31:58.1. Ben Anderson was third for Purdue and the second freshman to finish in the entire race. He finished in 53rd place with a time of 32:04.8. Jacob Hanawalt was the fourth Boilermaker to cross the line, as he took 67th with a time of 32:24.2. Tate Schienbein rounded out the scoring with a 68th place finish and a time of 32:25.7.
The men's team finished ninth at the regional with 241. Michigan won with 67 points, while Michigan State was second with 88. Eastern Michigan took third with 102.
McClintock and Schmelzle are assured a spot in the Nov. 21 NCAA Championships. The women will wait until tomorrow afternoon to find their fate. Check back to PurdueSports.com and on Twitter @PurdueTrackXC for the NCAA's announcement.