Edwardson takes tenth at Central Regional

WAVERLY - Ryan Edwardson ran to a 10th place finish at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships on Saturday, leading the Storm to a 15th-place finish of 26 teams.

Edwardson ran a 25:51.9, earning all-region honors by crossing the finish line two-tenths of a second behind ninth-place finisher, Dan McDermott of Loras. Grinnell won the meet with 97 points, followed by Luther with 133.

"I was really proud of our team effort today," head coach Brad Hofer said. "Ryan had a great perforamnce. He needed to run a great race to have a chance at nationals and he did. Two weeks ago he proved he is one of the best runners in the Iowa Conference and today he proved he is one of the best in the region."

Although he wasn't an automatic qualifier, Edwardson still has a chance to make the field of runners who will compete in the NCAA Championships, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 20 in Waverly. If Edwardson does qualify, he and Catie Ellingson become the first male and female from Simpson to participate at nationals during the same season since 1989.

The entire field will be announced Sunday, Nov. 14.

Jake Sutton came in 80th (27:04.9), Mitchell Davis finished 100th (27:24.5), Matt Stone placed 101st (27:25.0) and John Warnke finished 108th (27:35.1). Mitch Hill came in 145th (29:03.1) and Ben Duea placed 156th (29:30.0), rounding out Simpson's runners.