BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Seven members of the Moravian University men's and women's cross country teams garnered 2023 NCAA Division III Metro All-Region from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for finishing in the Top 35 during the 2023 Metro Regional hosted by Rowan University on Saturday, November 11.
The Greyhound men placed fourth of 25 teams in the regional and had four runners earn All-Region accolades. Junior Nathan Hajel earned All-Region honors for the third straight year as he placed eighth of 177 runners in a PR time of 25:08.5 on the 8,000- meter course to earn a trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships. Junior Owen Nahf garnered his second consecutive All-Region honor as he finished tenth in 25:16.9. Sophomore Bryan Kerchner received All-Region accolades for the first time as he placed 16th with a PR time of 25:26.6 while senior Josh Mangini made All-Region for the second straight fall with a 21st place finish in a time of 25:38.1.
"The men had an incredible race," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "Bryan Kerchner jumps to mind as possibly the best race of the day, though he had a mid-season calf injury and his first return to racing was at the Rowan Invite four weeks ago. He was understandably timid when getting back to racing last month, so I knew what he ran then didn't reflect what he was fully capable of. From an outside perspective, it looks like a huge breakthrough for him this season, but we also knew this was coming from his summer work and what he was doing in practice here.
"Josh had another great race and did an excellent job of learning from and adjusting some tactics from four weeks ago," continued Baumann. "He moved exceptionally well late in the race to finish as the top #4 runner in the entire field and his surge over the final 1k was the reason we were able to get into 4th place.
"Owen and Nathan were aiming for NCAAs and did all they could to set themselves up for it. Owen has had a muscle strain the past 10 days that has hindered him from running to his full potential, but he did all he could to put himself within seconds of getting to NCAAs. Nathan continued the best season of his career to advance to NCAAs. Even when you're tapering your training, it's difficult to get everyone to peak at the right time, but these four all had as good of a race as they possibly could have," concluded Baumann.
The women's squad finished fifth of 24 schools and had a trio of runners finish in the Top 35. Sophomore Tara Smurla placed fifth of 189 competitors with a PR time of 22:10.6 on the 6,000-meter course to garner All-Region honors for the second straight season. Smurla also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships with her finish. Junior Amber Poniktera earned All-Region accolades for the third consecutive year as she placed 17th in 22:58.4 while junior Rachael Goodman received her first All-Region honor with a 24th place showing in a PR time of 23:13.8.
"Tara and Amber had some uncertainty going into this race," commented Baumann. "Both had setbacks in the final 500 meters at Landmarks two weeks ago, so they both had some understandable anxiety about how this race would play out. NCAAs were the goal for Tara going into the race, so she knew she needed to be more aggressive and keep herself in contact with the top 7 at all times. Virtually every step of the race she was between 4th and 5th place. It was remarkably close even up to the final few meters, but she managed to kick well to a huge PR and NCAA qualification which she earned with 6 kilometers of impressive effort and focus.
"Amber was slightly more conservative by design and did an amazing job of picking through the field from around 30th place near the mile into the teens and her best ever finish at Regionals," Baumann continued. "It took a lot of courage to bounce back from Landmarks and trust herself the way that she did, and she was rewarded with one of the best races of her career.
"Rachael has been looking phenomenal over the past month of workouts and races, so this was what we expected. She was smart early on, effectively moved up about 10 places in the first 2k, and fought exceptionally hard in the pack around 20-30th place to earn her first All Region honor. It's astounding to see what a leap she's made from 12 months ago," Baumann finished.
View the full list of 2023 All-Region runners at https://www.ustfccca.org/2023/11/featured/2023-ncaa-division-iii-cross-country-all-region.
