Nov. 15, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - Front-running Sarah Zerzan of Willamette College leads an accomplished group of NCAA Division III Regional Women's Coaches and Athletes of the Year for the 2007 collegiate cross country season.

Zerzan won the West Regional by nearly 50 seconds, leading the Bearcats to their fifth straight regional title. Zerzan is the defending NCAA individual champion.

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association honors the top coaches and athletes in each of the eight Division III regions. Regional championships were held Saturday, Nov. 10.

Each of the regional honorees will be coaching or competing in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Nov. 17 in St. Olaf, Minn. Middlebury is the defending women's champion.

The regional coaches and athletes of the year were selected by coaches within their respective regions. This year's honorees:

Atlantic Region

Women's coach: John Lynch, SUNY Plattsburgh
Fifth-ranked SUNY Plattsburgh tied for the Atlantic Region title with SUNY Geneseo, giving the Cardinals their first-ever regional championship. A short-handed Plattsburgh team placed third at the State University of New York Athletic Conference meet. Lynch guided the Cardinals to their second straight NCAA berth in his third year as head coach.

Women's athlete: Liz Montgomery, SUNY Geneseo
Montgomery won the Atlantic Regional by 16 seconds, helping the Knights tie for the team championship with SUNY Plattsburgh. Montgomery earlier won individual titles at the SUNYAC and NYSCTC meets. A junior from Glenville. N.Y., Montgomery is a two-time All-American in cross country.

Central Region

Women's coach: Yarrow Pasche, Luther
With Janet Dobyins winning the individual title, Luther finished first at the Central Regional with 88 points. Pasche will be taking the 10th-ranked Norse to the NCAA Championships for the second time in her three years as the women's coach. Luther also won the 2007 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Women's athlete: Janet Dobyns, Luther
Dobyns won the Central Regional individual title by nine seconds in leading the Norse to the team championship. The junior from Iowa City won her second straight Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. Dobyns earned All-America honors in 2006, finishing 23rd at the NCAA Championships.

Mideast Region

Women's coach: Don Nichter, Dickinson
Nichter's 19th season as the Dickinson women's cross country coach brought more trophies to an already crowded case. The Red Devils raced to their eighth straight Centennial Conference and third consecutive Mideast Region titles. Dickinson is ranked 12th heading into the NCAA Division III Championships.

Women's athlete: Erin Fisher, Elizabethtown
Fisher became Elizabethtown's first woman to win a regional cross country title when she outran Dickinson's Caitlin Bradley, last year's NCAA runner-up, by 12 seconds at the Mideast meet. Fisher also won her second straight Middle Atlantic Conference championship. She is a senior from McEwensville, Pa.

Great Lakes Region

Women's coach: Brian Diemer, Calvin
In his second season as the women's cross country coach, Diemer led the Knights to their first regional title since 2002. Earlier in the season, Calvin scored 19 points to win the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship for the third straight year. The Knights enter the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships ranked second in the nation.

Women's athlete: Esther Erb, Case Western Reserve
Erb's 22-second victory at the Great Lakes Regional was her sixth straight win of the season. Two weeks earlier, she became the first Case Western Reserve woman to win a University Athletic Association championship. Erb, a senior from Richmond, Va., finished 34th at last year's NCAA Championships.

New England Region

Women's coach: Erik Nedeau, Amherst
Amherst enters the NCAA Championships in the same position it started the season - ranked first in the country. The Lord Jeffs raced to a 56-point win at the New England Regional after claiming the NESCAC title. Nedeau, a world-class performer in the 1,500 meters in the 1990s, is in his 12th season at Amherst.. The Lord Jeffs finished second at last year's NCAA Cross Country Championships, losing to Middlebury by one point.

Women's athlete: Jennifer Adams, Keene State Adams became the first Keene State female to win a regional title when she broke away from the pack at the two-mile mark to win the New England Regional by 11 seconds. She won three other races this fall and placed fifth at the New England Championships. Adams, a senior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., earned All-America honors in 2005.

South/Southeast Region

Women's coach: John Curtin, Emory
No. 20 Emory edged Trinity by two points to win its third straight South/Southeast Region title. The Falcons finished third at the University Athletic Association championship, trailing nationally ranked teams from Washington and Case Western Reserve. In his 22 seasons at Emory, Curtin has won 16 women's regional titles.

Women's athlete: D'Ann Arthur, Trinity (Texas) Arthur became Trinity's first regional champion when she raced to the South/Southeast title. Her four-second victory helped the Tigers finish second in the team standings and quality for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 17 in St. Olaf, Minn. Arthur is a junior from Colleyville, Texas.

West Region

Women's coach: Matt McGuirk, Willamette
McGuirk's sixth-ranked Bearcats won the West Regional for the fifth straight year, scoring 43 points to defeat runner-up Puget Sound by 43 points. McGuirk has won Northwest Conference and regional women's titles in each of his five seasons as the head coach.

Women's athlete: Sarah Zerzan, Willamette
Zerzan won her third straight West Region title Saturday in Estacada, Ore., pulling away from the field early en route to a 49-second victory. The defending NCAA women's cross country champion also finished first at the Charles Bowles Invitational and the Northwest Conference Championships. Zerzan is a senior from San Carlos, Ca.

Midwest Region

Women's coach: Jeff Stiles, Washington (Mo.)
The third-ranked Bears won their third straight Midwest Region title by a comfortable margin, scoring 41 points as four of their runners finished in the top 10. The Bears also won their fifth University Athletic Association in six seasons. Stiles led Washington to top-four finishes in four of the last five NCAA cross country meets.

Women's athlete: Becca Jordahl, Wisconsin-River Falls
Jordahl became the first Falcon to win a regional title when she clocked 21:05 for 6,000 meters at the Midwest Regional. After losing narrowly to Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Ayla Mitchell at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet, Jordahl outran Mitchell by 13 seconds at regionals. Jordahl is a sophomore from Pocatello, Idaho.