After winning the conference in Ohio just two weeks ago, Oakland University’s cross country team hopped on the bus to Madison, Wis. to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Friday, Nov. 13.

The Zimmer championship course was home to all of the Division I cross country programs from the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Oakland’s men’s cross country team finished in a program-best 11th place. Their previous best place was 16th.

Junior Bryce Stroede had the fastest finish for the Golden Grizzlies in 36th out of 208 runners. Stroede ran a personal best of 31:36.2 for a 10K. 

Junior Andrew Bowman finished 47th with a time 31:52.6 and senior George O’Connor finished in 69th with a time of 32:28.2.

“The guys today, it was just an incredible day. We surprised a lot of people,” cross country head coach Paul Rice said.

 “Unbelievable job by these guys, their bodies were still feeling really good today.”

On the women’s side, Oakland finished 19th overall. School record holder freshman Rachel Levy finished the fastest for Oakland in 48th place with a time of 21:37.8 in the 6K. Senior Miranda Haas followed in 78th place at 22:10.9 and the redshirt sophomore Ashley Burr finished 108th with 22:53.7.

“Well, I think we kind of ran out of gas, it’s been a long season. We had a lot of success this year,” Rice said.

The majority of the athletes that competed at regionals will be returning next year, including all of the top-five women. 

The team will now turn its attention to indoor track season and begin gearing up for the spring.