On Saturday, junior Jenn Cronin will have a chance to do something that no other LVC cross country runner has ever done - be an All-American.

That's because Cronin, the NCAA Mideast Regional meet champion and USTFCCCA Mideast Regional Athlete of the Year, will compete in the NCAA Division III National Championship meet at Highland Park Golf Course outside Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday at 11 a.m.

LVC fans can catch full coverage of the meet, hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College, on the official meet web site. Cronin will also blog her experience on the GoDutchmen.com XC Blog throughout the weekend.

Cronin ran the nation's 14th-fastest time among the eight regional championships last Saturday, and has a chance to place in the top 35 at nationals to earn All-America status. A top-15 finish would earn an NCAA medal. The MAC bronze medalist, Cronin won the regional meet on a fast Lehigh University course in a personal-best 21:39.2, five seconds clear of the field.

"Jenn has run some incredible races over the past few years, especially during last year’s track season where she was breaking LVC records left and right and became a two-time ECAC Champion," said coach James O'Brien '07. "However, her Mideast Regional race was the biggest of her career to date, beating some phenomenal runners in the process.”

It was Cronin's second career win (along with this year's LVC invitational), but the junior had not finished outside the top three in a race this year. She'll be one of four MAC runners at nationals, all at-large selections out of the Mideast.

“In just a few years, Jenn went from finishing 89th, to 19th, to 1st at regionals out of roughly 315 runners each outing. Improvement like that does not happen by accident," O'Brien said. "Years of hard work and dedication are paying off for her and, as always, Jenn will give it her best out there on Saturday."

Official Meet Site
Read Jenn's Blog Throughout The Championship Weekend!