Nov. 4, 2006

KENOSHA, Wisc. - The Mercyhurst College cross country team finished 21st at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Championships at Wisconsin-Parkside. Josh Peterson was the Lakers top finisher in the 10K event, placing 77th.

Peterson ran a 34:51 to beat teammate Kenneth Foster across the finish line by just seven seconds. Foster placed 87th. Matt Deragon took 119th with a time of 35:52. Jon Lyons covered his 10K in 36:21 for a 131st place finish. Nate Smith captured 140th place with a time of 36:57.

Mercyhurst tallied 554 points to finish 21st in the 23 team field. St. Joseph's (Indiana) was 22nd with 588 points and Gannon with 687 points finished 23rd.

Grand Valley State, who also won the women's team title, made it a clean sweep with a team and individual championship. Nate Peck ran a 31:30 to best the field by 11 seconds for the win. All five GVSU runners placed in the top 13 as the team scored just 36 points.

Wayne State will also head the NCAA Division II Championships after finishing second with a total of 60 points. All five scorers for the Warriors finished in the top 24.

Also competing for Mercyhurst were displacers Kurtis Billig and Kevin Szczepanski. Billig was 144th in 37:23 and Smith took 149th in 38:12.

A total of 157 runners competed in the race.

The Great Lakes Regional finishes the Lakers 2006 season.