UW Oshkosh cross country runner Amelia Lehman qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championship after finishing seventh at the Division III North Regional Championship hosted by Carleton College (Minnesota) Nov. 16 at the Cowling Arboretum.
Lehman finished the race in 22:15.2 to claim the final automatic qualifying spot in the regional competition. Lehman, the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, will be making her second appearance at nationals after she placed 47th (22:49.9) in the championship meet in 2022.
Lehman, a senior, said that there is a lot that goes into preparing for the national championship race.
“I have been running easy on the off days and trying to stay strong on the hard days,” Lehman said. “I am also eating the right amount of food and getting at least eight hours each night. For preparing mentally, I am replaying that [WIAC] race in my head over and over to give me confidence. I am also journaling and giving myself affirmations saying that ‘I got this’ and ‘I am powerful and strong.’”
Lehman said that when she runs, she is constantly thinking.
“When I am racing, I repeat my mantras over and over,” Lehman said. “My mantras this time [at the WIAC meet] were ‘this will be tough, but you are tougher,’ ‘my name is Amelia and I am fast,’ ‘I am the best one out here,’ and ‘no one can do what I can do.’”
Lehman said that it was an amazing feeling to win the WIAC title.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Lehman said. “It feels amazing because I can be a part of the UW Oshkosh legacy. There are so many people that were great runners that ran here, so to be a part of that is special.”
Lehman said that she was happy to set a new personal record time of 21:18.2 at the conference meet.
“I knew we were running pretty fast from the get go,” Lehman said. “I tried to stay calm and relaxed as much as possible because the more you focus on the time, I personally start to panic.”
Aside from Lehman, the UWO women’s cross country team placed seventh at the North Regional Championship with 186 points in the 6,000-meter race.
Senior Libby Geisness was named to the All-Region team after finishing 31st at the meet with a time of 23:04.6. Sophomore Gracie Buchinger placed 37th in 23:08.8 while junior Jamie Catania claimed 44th place with a time of 23:18. The final point scorer for the Titans was senior Cyna Madigan, who took 68th place with a time of 23:53.4.
Carleton College’s Hannah Preisser won the North Regional with a time of 21:24.1 while UW-La Crosse won the team title after scoring 63 points.
On the men’s side, UWO placed 12 at the regional with 349 points in the 8,000-meter race. The Titans were led by junior Cameron Cullen, who placed 36th in 25:18.4. Junior John Thill claimed 60th place with a time of 25:49.3 while fellow junior Paul Proteau took 72nd place in 26:02.8. Junior Trent Chadwick finished 75th with a time of 26:07.3 while sophomore Jason Skinkis claimed 106th place with a time of 26:54.9.
Mohammed Bati of Augsburg University (Minnesota) won the individual crown in 24:20.6 while UW-La Crosse won the team title with 40 points.
Lehman will be the lone Titan competing in the NCAA Division III National Championship meet hosted by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Indiana, with the race scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. At the same course earlier this year in the NCAA Division III Pre-Nationals Meet Oct. 4, Lehman finished in 27th place in 22:12.
