The Illinois Springfield men's cross country team heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, this weekend for the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship. The race is set for 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course. UIS ran this course once during the regular season, but will tackle the longer 10-kilometer distance in the regional championship.

The top three finishing teams will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship. Additional team and individual bids will be determined early next week by the NCAA selection committee based on results from regional meets across the country. Top individual finishers who are not part of qualifying teams will also have a chance to advance.

UIS will field an experienced and competitive lineup that has been strong throughout the fall. Senior Brock Loftus, the Prairie Stars' top runner at the GLVC Championships, leads the group after an impressive 24:30 performance over 8K—one of the best times in program history. Joining him are juniors Matt Padilla and Joey Karlesky, both All-GLVC honorees, along with Colin Graham, one of the team's most consistent scorers this season and also an All-GLVC performer. Noah Tegeler, the program's most experienced cross country athlete and a 2024 All-GLVC performer, brings valuable postseason experience to the lineup. Freshman Charlie Borlin, the No. 2 freshman at the GLVC Championship, will make his regional debut and tackle the 10K distance for the first time this weekend. Owen Whelan, a first-year transfer, joins him to round out the seven-runner squad.

The Prairie Stars are coming off a runner-up finish at the GLVC Championships, proving the squad is peaking just in time for postseason racing. UIS re-entered the USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings at No. 10 following that performance and will look to outperform that position to earn national consideration. Historically, UIS has fit comfortably inside the region's top 10, and this weekend provides another opportunity to challenge some of the Midwest's ranked programs, including Ashland, Tiffin, Michigan Tech, and Lewis.

Follow Along
A live stream will not be provided, but admission is free for fans attending in person. Live results will be available at runsignup.com.