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TERRA HAUTE, Ind. -- Heartland Christian junior Rebecca Geiss is making her way up the national charts.
Geiss, the Ohio Division III state champion and runner-up the past two years, finished 26th at the Nike Midwest Regional meet Sunday.
Her time of 17:56.96 was almost five seconds better than last year on the 3.1-mile LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course. She also was six places better than last year.
Midland Dow senior Victoria Garces topped the 287-runner field in 16:52.97.
She became the school's first individual Michigan state cross country champion two weeks ago.
Garces advances to the Nike National meet in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 7.
The Girls Championship Division featured the top runners from this part of the country.
Uniontown Lake senior Daniela Scheffler -- the Ohio Division I state champion -- was fifth (17:11.85).
Lancaster senior Marisa Heil was ninth (17:27.43), while Olentangy Liberty junior Elena Aldrick, was 13th (17:38.73). They were third and fourth, respectively, in the Ohio Division I state meet.
Athens junior Sophia Szolosi -- the Ohio Division II state champion --was 30th (18:06.25).
Smithville junior Kaitlyn Carr was 48th (18:25.0). She has been third in the Ohio Division III state meet the last two years.
New Trier (Ind.) senior Ben Crane was first out of 310 boys runners in the Championship Division (14:46.03). The Brigham Young University commit was New Trier's second state champion since 1966.
Some of the top Ohioans included Tippecanoe junior and Ohio Division I state champion Landon Kimmel in fourth (14:52.91), Steubenville Catholic Central senior and Division III third-place Andrew Rhode in 13th (15:14.50), Rittman junior and two-time Division III state champion Luke Snyder in 17th (15:19.55), Massillon Jackson senior and Division I third-place Eli Ilg in 21st (15:21.54) and Fairfield Union senior and Division II state champion Andrew Walton in 37th (15:36.04).
In the Boys Rising Stars 1 race, Salem sophomore Luke Stephens was third out of 231 runners (17:10.15).
Slabach at Mid-East
KETTERING --Three Mahoning Valley runners paced the Ohio all-star team at the Mid-East Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
Boardman's David D'Altorio was 15th (16:01.73) on the 3.1-mile course at Indian Riffle Park Cross Country Course on Saturday.
Mineral Ridge's Dominic Pappagallo was 22nd (16:16.40) and South Range's Emmitt Slabach was 35th (17:06.85).
Slabach and Pappagallo both had top nine finishes at the Ohio Division III state meet on Nov. 2.
Ottawa-Glandorf's Ty Rosengarten, the Ohio Division I state champion, won the race (15:39.19). He is a University of Findlay commit.
The race featured some of the top senior runners from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
Indiana won the boys team title with 31 points, followed by Ohio with 34 and Michigan with 66.
The Michigan girls took the top seven places and won the team title with 15 points. Ohio had 61 points and Indiana 66.
Michigan's Jessica Jazwinski won the girls race in 17:48.17. She is a multiple state champion and a North Carolina State commit.
Xenia Legacy Christian senior Caroline Hamilton, the Ohio Division III state champion, was 12th (18:29.03).
John Carroll to nationals
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. -- The John Carroll University men's cross country team is heading to the NCAA Division III National Championships for a fifth straight time.
The Blue Streaks finished second at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championships Saturday at Blue River Cross Country Course to claim an at-large berth.
Calvin (Mich.) won with 99 points to get the automatic berth. It was Calvin's 29th Great Lakes Regional title. John Carroll was second with 112.
Each team had four runners in the top 26.
They will be among the 32 teams running in the NCAA Division III National Championships at noon Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
"I'm excited for the men to advance to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute," John Carroll coach Steve Fuelling said. "This will be the fourth time in a row for our seniors. They have made it the standard in the program to be at this meet and represent John Carroll on the national stage."
Wabash (Ind.) senior Brayden Curnutt topped the 283-runner in the men's 8K race in 24 minutes, 36.9 seconds.
Wilmington sophomore Faith Duncan won the women's 6K race, topping the 27-runner field in 20:59.0.
Other runners included John Carroll freshman Anne Rea -- the daughter of Mark Rea, who ran on Salem's 1993 state championship cross country team -- in 36th (22:59.6) and Heidelberg senior and Minerva High School graduate Kenzie Fountain in 119th (24:36.5).