JOPLIN, Mo. – Minnesota State women's cross country placed fourth out of 35 teams with 141 points at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships Saturday at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Missouri. Ashley Overgaauw paced the Mavericks with a seventh place individual time of 21:12.70 in the 6K event.
 
Winona State took the top spot with 99 points, followed by Pittsburg State (113), Nebraska-Kearney (116), Minnesota State (141) and Northwest Missouri State (156). Emily McCollough (Fort Hays State) crossed the finish line first with a time of 20:32.59.
 
Alexi MacDonald (All-Region) came in 23^rd for the Mavericks with a time of 21:46.37. Madison Matzek was 29^th in a time of 21:57.80. Other MSU finishers included Amanda Overgaauw (40^th, 22:12.85), Mileena Sullivan (42^nd, 22:14.38), Tara Hertling (65^th, 22:34.56) and Paige Larsen (131^st, 23:38.40).
 
Next up for the Minnesota State women's cross country team is the NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday, November 22 at Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course. The selection announcement will come out early next week.
 
With a fourth-place finish at the Regional Championships, the Mavericks await an at-large bid for the National Championships. Ten at-large teams in addition to the 24 automatic qualifiers from eight regions will be selected.
 
A minimum of 24 additional individuals can be selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process.

"I was really proud of how we competed today and all season," said head coach Jen Blue. "We came in ranked fifth and I was happy with our fourth place finish. We got out and did everything we talked about and executed the race plan. We have one of the top regions in the country and will find out Monday afternoon if we will be awarded one of the 10 at-large spots. I am extremely happy for Ashley and Alexi earning recognition on the All-Region team. Hopefully, we have one more race in two weeks."
 
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

• The Mavericks improved from their 9^th place finish at the 2024 NCAA Central Region Championships.
• The last time the Mavericks qualified for the NCAA Championships was 2022 (finished third in the region, 16^th at the NCAA Championships).
• Prior to 2022, the Mavericks had not qualified for the NCAA Championships since 1995. The team placed fourth that season.