Individual Results  |  Team Results

 PEORIA, Ill. – North Dakota State sophomore Erin Teschuk did not want her breakout cross country season to end on Friday at the NCAA Midwest Regional. So, she put on one of the greatest cross country performances in NDSU history and earned herself a spot in the NCAA Championships.
 
The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native raced to a second-place finish out of 222 runners at Newman Golf Course, finishing the six-kilometer course in 20:07.4 to break her own school record for that distance by 55 seconds. Teschuk beat every individual from nationally-ranked teams Iowa State, Minnesota and Oklahoma State.
 
Teschuk is the first NDSU athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Terre Haute, Ind.
 
"Going into the race, I wanted to be confident, but I was aiming for top 10 and just trying to qualify for nationals," Teschuk said. "It was beyond what I expected."
 
Teschuk ran with the lead pack for the entire race, and she realized she was in position to do something special.
 
"About the last (1000 meters), I was confident in my finishing kick," she said. It showed, as she powered to the best NCAA Regional finish in NDSU's Division I history.
 
Teschuk and the NDSU distance runners have been training under first-year distance coach Andrew Carlson, who told Teschuk before the race that great things were possible.
 
"I told her to respect her competition today, but not to fear anybody," said Carlson. "Based on how she's looked all season and in her workouts, I had a hard time imagining that too many women could run away from her. She's a competitor. She was amazing."
 
Sophomore Taylor Janssen was NDSU's No. 2 finisher in 103rd place overall, completing the course in 21:48.7. Track & field All-American Paige Stratioti took 119th place for the Bison in 21:56.7. Junior Ashley Heinze finished 133rd in 22:08.3, and sophomore Tarin Lachowitzer was 139th in 22:13.1 to round out the team scoring for NDSU.
 
All five recorded lifetime-best times for the 6k, with Stratioti trimming over one minute and Heinze cutting 55 seconds off her best. The Bison finished 18th out of 32 teams at the regional.
 
Teschuk's bid to the NCAA Championships is the latest in a string of individual accomplishments this season. She opened with a victory at the Bison Open in August, set the 6k school record at Stanford in September, won the UND Ron Pynn Invitational in October, and captured the Summit League title on Nov. 1.
 
Carlson had high praise for his blossoming distance runner.
 
"It's tough to put into words," he said post-race. "It's very rare to see someone who has the talent, the willingness to work hard, and is a great competitor on top of that. She has all those things, and it showed today. The sky is the limit for this girl, and it will continue into Terre Haute next weekend."
 
Teschuk was just happy to have another race ahead of her.
 
"This season has been great," she said. "It has given me a lot of confidence to take it to the next level. I would have been disappointed if I didn't have another race to finish off the season."