SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Indiana University of Pennsylvania\'s Nicole Blaesser and Lock Haven University\'s Ryan Blood won the women\'s and men\'s individual championships, respectively, Saturday to highlight the results at the NCAA Division II Men\'s and Women\'s Cross Country East Regional hosted by Slippery Rock University.
Blaesser won the women\'s title with a time of 21:43.75, almost a full minute ahead of runner-up Rachael Lanzel of Edinboro University (22:35.25). Her regional title earned her a berth in the Division II national meet Nov. 18 in Pensacola, Fla.
Blood recorded a winning time of 31:35.00 and finished 26 seconds ahead of defending regional champion Jeff Weiss of Slippery Rock.
Blood\'s performance led Lock Haven to the men\'s team title as the Bald Eagles enjoyed a 39-point (49-88) advantage over second-place Edinboro.
In women\'s team competition, Kutztown University claimed the title with 51 points, seven points ahead of second-place Edinboro.
The top two teams earned automatic berths in the national meet.
Four of Blood\'s teammates joined him on the all-region team as Aaron Benson (33:15.20), Shawn Moore (33:30.50), Brandon Pomerantz (33:32.55) and Cory Spidell (33:42.50) finished in eighth, 12th, 13th and 15th places, respectively.
Edinboro\'s men\'s team had only one all-region runner: Dave Niemira, who placed sixth in the individual race with a time of 33:01.30.
Kutztown had four women runners earn all-region honors, led by fifth-place finisher Stephanie Williams (23:322.20). She was joined on the all-region team by KU teammates Joanna Horstmann (6th, 23:26.10), Desiree Bower (9th, 23:40.55) and Maureen Watson (13th, 23:45.25).
Edinboro\'s women\'s team had three all-region runners: Lanzel, Rebecca Nungesser (7th, 23:29.70) and Kristine Beringer (14th, 23:51.10).
Slippery Rock, the third-place team finisher in the women\'s competition, had two all-region runners in the No. 3 and 4 individual finishers, Holly Whoolery (22:58.60) and Jennifer Harpp (23:16.25), respectively.
Whoolery and Harpp earned individual berths in the Division II national meet by virtue of their finishes Saturday.
Joining them in the nationals as individual participants will be Blaesser and Bloomsburg teammates Amber Hackenburg (8th place) and Beth Schwing (10th place).
On the men\'s side, Weiss earned his second straight individual berth in national competition. He will be joined in Pensacola by East Regional individual qualifiers Jorge Medina (3rd, 32:21.45), Bloomsburg\'s Justin Shepherd (32:24.40), Clarion\'s Chris Clarke (5th, 32:47.70) and Shippensburg\'s Richard Hanslovan (7th, 33:11.50).