Meet Information
Race: NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Meet
Location: Shelbyville, Ind. - Franklin College & Blue River Sports Authority, Hosts
Short Story: Liam Galligan secures an individual trip to the NCAA National Tournament; Barons place 6th their best finish in this meet in school history.

Race Highlights
For the first time since 2012, Franciscan traveled west to Indiana for their NCAA Regional Meet. At the 11:00 a.m. start time the temperature was slowly approaching 40 degrees.  The Barons would start near the end of the starting line, as they came out of the 40th starting box of 42 total. Starting on the end did not prevent Liam Galligan from working his way to the front quickly, as he would lead the field through one kilometer with a time of 2:57.9. Miguel Daez just two seconds behind him was in 33rd place through one kilometer, as the lead pack would be very crowded. The Barons as a team would stand in 5th place at the first checkpoint.

Through two kilometers, the Barons jumped up to fourth. George Kaftan was the biggest mover for the Barons, as he jumped up 18 spots to 27th just behind his teammate Daez. At the 3K mark, Liam Galligan was one tenth of a second behind the leader Simon Heys, a junior from Wilmington, as they battled back and forth throughout the early goings of this race. Halfway through the race, the Barons remained in fourth place on the team leaderboard. Danny Donovan was off to a strong start in 48th, and PAC Newcomer of the Year Conal Delaney held a 64th place position in his first NCAA Regional Meet. 

At the next 6K checkpoint, with two kilometers left, Franciscan still held there fourth place position. Liam Galligan would sit in 7th place, as John Carroll's Alex Phillip jumped into the lead. John Carroll also took over the #1 position at the moment, as they came into this meet with the #1 ranking in the Great Lakes Region and defending OAC Champions. 

Over the last two kilometers, Liam Galligan would finish strong, as he would climb up to finish 6th with a time of 24:48.5. With the sixth place finish, Galligan locked in his third individaul trip to the NCAA National Tournament of his career. That time would be good enough for the second best time in Franciscan history in the NCAA Regional Meet. Bill Jones ran a 24:26.2 when he won this meet in 2012. Miguel Daez had a strong showing, as he finished 33rd. Geroge Kaftan was not far behind him, as he finished 43rd in his first regional meet with Franciscan. Mark Borek finished the race stronger than anyone on the team, as he steadily moved up the field to finish 77th. Danny Donovan finished in the top 100 with a 97th place finish. 

Pictured below, Liam Galligan and Miguel Daez, received medals for earing a spot on the All-Region team by finishing in the top 35.
 

John Carroll would go on to win the team title and clinch the Great Lakes automatic qualifier into the NCAA National Championship

Click Here Full Field Results

Baron Top Finishers (By Overall Place)   
6th    Liam Galligan               24:48.5
33rd  Miguel Daez                 25:47.3
43rd  George Kaftan              25:55.7
77th  Mark Borek                  26:33.8
97th  Danny Donovan           26:46.7                        
109th Conal Delaney            27:02.2
184th David Di Nardo           28:24.6

Up Next
Franciscan will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they will earn an at large bid into next weekend's NCAA Division III National Championship in Louisville. Only the winning team from each of the ten regions receives an automatic qualifier into the National Championship with 22 other schools waiting to receive at large bids. Tune into NCAA.com on Sunday to see the whole field released to see if the Barons will make their first ever trip to the NCAA Championship as a team. 

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