Greencastle’s Wilson to run in Nike Cross Regionals event

Thursday, November 9, 2017
Emma Wilson

TERRE HAUTE — Fresh off her victory in the Indiana High School Athletic Association cross country state finals last month, Greencastle junior Emma Wilson will look to make her mark on the national level on Sunday.

Wilson will be competing in the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the same facility where she won her first state title.

Wilson will be competing for a spot at the prestigious Nike Cross Nationals at Portland, Ore., on Dec. 2.

The top two teams and the best five runners from a non-advancing team will advance to the nationals, according to the Nike Cross website.

Runners at the Midwest Regional will be from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.

Wilson’s winning time as the Indiana state champion was 17:45.9.

To compare, the following runners won state titles from the other regional states:

• Michigan (upper peninsula) — Division I, Emily Paupore (Negaunee) 19:22.3

• Michigan (lower peninsula) — Division I, Ericka Vanderlende (Rockford) 17:16.8

• Ohio — Division III, Emma Watcke (Minster), 18:38.4; Division II, Annie Zimmer (Chagrin Falls), 18:13.6; Division I, Morgan Gigandet (Troy), 17:30.8.

• Illinois — Class 3A, Katelynne Hart (Glenbard West) 16:22; Class 2A, Jenna Schwartz (Waterloo) 17:05; Class A, Emma Argo (Eureka) 17:34.

• Missouri — Class 1, Ashley Riley (South Nodaway) 19:55.53; Class 2, Brianna Haller (Fatima) 18:50.44; Class 3, Kylie Goldfarb (John Burroughs) 19:00.54; Class 4, Victoria Findley (Blue Springs South) 18:09.34.

The LaVern Gibson course has hosted numerous NCAA Division I championships and is considered to have a high level of difficulty.

The difficulty level of the courses run in nearby states is unknown, and the exact distance run was not available for each state and could vary from Indiana’s standard of 5,000 meters (3.1 miles).

At the 14th annual national event, club and individual qualifiers from eight regional sites will compete for the national championships.

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