McKenzie earns All-Region honors, Storm place 10th

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Ian McKenzie led the Simpson men's cross country team to a 10th place finish at the NCAA Central Region Championship on Saturday, the program's best finish in more than 20 years.

Team Scores | Detailed Team Results | Individual Results | Photos

McKenzie earned all-region honors with a 20th-place finish and the Storm turned in their best finish at a regional championship since 1996 with 263 points. McKenzie ran 25:38.3 to become Simpson's first all-region runner since Joe Farrand placed 10th in 2012.

Trey Thompson finished one place out of all-region contention, coming in 36th in 26:02.6. Jonathan Facio continued his breakthrough season with a 45th-place finish and Kyle Hovey came in 75th.

With his performance Saturday, McKenzie put himself in contention for an at-large bid for the national meet. The final field will be announced Sunday.

Coach Speak
"Today was an accumulation of a lot of hard work and commitment by all the guys. Our main goal all season was to finish in the top 10 in the region. It was very satisfying to see the men race well once again. Ian ran terrific and Trey bounced back from a tough conference race." — head coach Heath Moenck

Meet Report
20. Ian McKenzie, 25:38.3
36. Trey Thompson, 26:02.6 
45. Jonathan Facio, 26:09.5
75. Kyle Hovey, 26:43.3 
87. Tyler Combs, 26:52.9 
91. Levi Lefebure, 26:54.9 
107. Seth Nostrala, 27:10.5