RELEASED:  Saturday, November 17, 2007

Sigl Wins NCAA Men’s Individual Title; UW-La Crosse Men, UW-Eau Claire Women Lead WIAC

Northfield, Minn.--University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Tyler Sigl won the individual title at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships that were held on Nov. 17.   The national meet was hosted by St. Olaf College (Minn.).

Sigl topped a field of 280 runners on the 8,000-meter course in a time of 24:24 to become just the third runner from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) to win a NCAA Division III individual title.   UW-La Crosse’s Brett Altergott won the national meet in 1997, while UW-Stevens Point’s Arnie Schraeder won the 1986 event.

Sigl won the race by 13 seconds over Peter Kosgei of Hamilton.

UW-La Crosse was the highest-finishing WIAC men's team with a fifth-place standing after compiling 221 points.   UW-Stevens Point placed sixth with 326 points and UW-Platteville was 11th with 402 points.   A total of 32 teams participated in the men’s meet.

New York University won the men’s meet with 128 points to outdistance Haverford’s (Pa.) second-place total of 150.   Cortland State (N.Y.) finished third with 158 points and Calvin College (Mich.) placed fourth with 214 points.

UW-La Crosse’s Paul Zdroik finished fifth with a time of 24:44, UW-Whitewater’s Brian Butzler took 20th with a time of 25:06 and UW-Stevens Point’s Dominick Meyer was 24th with a time of 25:07.

In the women’s race, UW-Eau Claire finished eighth with 285 points to lead the WIAC contingent, while UW-Platteville placed 12th with 366 and UW-La Crosse was 18th with 452.

Amherst College (Mass.) won the national title with 120 points to surpass Plattsburgh State’s (N.Y.) second-place total of 159.  Washington University (Mo.) was third with 194, Calvin College (Mich.) fourth with 199 and Geneseo State (N.Y.) fifth with 249.  A total of 32 teams competed in the women’s national meet.

UW-River Falls’ Becca Jordahl was the top finisher from the conference placing fourth with a time of 21:27 on the 6,000-meter course.  UW-Oshkosh’s Alya Mitchell was 13th with a time of 21:45 and UW-Eau Claire’s Beth Lutz finished 29th with a time of 22:03.

Sarah Zerzan of Willamette (Ore.) claimed the national title with a time of 20:54 to outdistance a field of 280 runners.