NEWVILLE, PA. – The Griffins traveled to central Pennsylvania and the campus of Big Spring High School for the 2012 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship hosted by Dickinson College.  The men, despite a few setbacks, managed to finish eleventh out of forty-nine scoring teams and will be sending the program's first NCAA Division III Championship Individual Qualifier to nationals.  Unfortunately injury or illness prevented two finishers from reaching the finish line, impacting the overall team score.
 
Junior Brett Kubiak (Philadelphia, PA / Milton Hershey) covered the challenging 8000 meter layout in 25:26, finishing third overall and secured a trip to the NCAA Division III Championship next weekend.  Kubiak finished the race as the Mideast Region's first individual qualifier and punched his ticket to compete in Terra Haute, Indiana next weekend.  Brett's time was 47 seconds faster than he ran on the same course in mid-September. Senior Tyler Rooke (Coventry, CT / East Catholic) finished an outstanding collegiate cross country career with a 41st place finish, covering the five mile course in 26:33 – 46 seconds faster than he ran on the same course earlier in the season.  Junior Joe Kubiak (Philadelphia, PA / Milton Hershey) finished in 26:49 to capture 52nd overall.  The race was only the third of the season for Kubiak who has improved steadily after returning from an early season quad injury.
 
Freshman Patrick McCurry (Waterford Works, NJ / Hammonton) was the fourth Griffin to stop the clock, finishing 111th overall in 27:51.  Sophomore Craig Gonzaga (Philadelphia, PA / Archbishop Ryan) rounded out the top five for the Griffins, finishing in a personal best time of 29:16 to capture 208th place.  The performance was the first sub-30 time in Gonzaga's career.
 
Coach Dager comments on the day:
 
'We had some great performances today, highlighted of course by Brett's third place finish and national qualifying performance.  He ran an incredible race and was running stride-for-stride with the eventual winner until the final 2000 meters of the race.  Tyler and Joe ran great races.  Joe has worked so hard to return from his injury and Tyler is a great story of dedication and improvement over the last three years.  Patrick ran well and Craig did all he could to step up and help the team.  The goal was a top 10 finish and we missed tenth by one point, it's hard to not think about what could have been if everyone crossed the finish line today.  We could have competed for a sixth place finish.  As much as falling out the top 10 stings, the fact that the program will be represented at the National Championship is a really big deal for us.  Everyone is pumped up for Brett.'
 
The 2012 NCAA Division III National Championship will be contested on Saturday November 17th.  Rose Hulman Institute of Technology will host the Championship at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Course on the campus of Indiana State University.  The course has served as the site of the NCAA Division I Championship for the last eight years and was built specifically for cross country competition.  The men's race is scheduled to begin at 11AM.  Check back for information regarding a live stream of the event.  The top 35 athletes in the race are declared All-Americans by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.