Shiels qualifies for NCAA Championship
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee has announced that Wisconsin Lutheran College senior men’s cross country runner Zach Shiels (Johnson Creek, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) has qualified for the 2008 Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship.

Shiels placed 24th overall in a field of 280 runners at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at Saukie Golf Course on Saturday, completing the 8k course in a season-best time of 25:21. Shiels becomes the first athlete from Wisconsin Lutheran College to qualify for the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship since the program’s inception in 1994.

Shiels, who placed 28th at the same event a year ago, is one of 56 individuals (seven runners from each of the country’s eight regions) that have been selected to compete in the championship. Five of the 32 seven-person teams that have been selected to compete in the championship will come out of the Midwest Region.

“Zach is a very hard-working, coachable athlete who is dedicated to the sport and willing to do the little things that help produce a national caliber athlete,” says head coach Steve Travis. “God has blessed Zach with relatively good health over the course of the past three and a half years of his training as a Warrior.”

Hanover College will host the championships next Saturday, November 22, at the L.S. Ayres Complex in Hanover, Ind. The men’s 8k race will begin at 10 a.m.

Courtesy of Wisconsin Lutheran College, Sports Information Department, November 17, 2008.