Senior Jason Richwall of the Muhlenberg men's cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships by finishing eighth at the NCAA Mideast Regional.

Richwall's finish earned him one of the NCAA berths for individuals not on qualifying teams. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for next Saturday at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville.

The Mules have now qualified at least one athlete for the NCAA Championships in cross country 15 years in a row and 17 out of the last 19 years.

Richwall is the third Muhlenberg male to place in the top 10 at the regional meet in the last 10 years. He made great strides during his career after coming in 71st at the regional meet as a freshman. He improved to 49th as a sophomore and 41st last year before jumping into the top 10.

The Mule men's team finished in the top half of the region, coming in 25th out of 51 teams. Sophomores Pat Smurla (86th) and Jonah Silverman (143rd) also were in the top half of the 360-runner field.

Sophomore Abby Dalton led the Muhlenberg women by placing 38th out of 349 competitors. 

complete results: men | women

Muhlenberg Runners (men)
8. Jason Richwall, 24:57.6
86. Pat Smurla, 26:41.1
143. Jonah Silverman, 27:25.1
210. Sam Morgan, 28:33.2
220. Conner Soderstedt, 28:47.3
291. Kyle Tassone, 31:10.8
332. Adam Stefan, 34:11.6

Muhlenberg Runners (women)
38. Abby Dalton, 22:47.7
113. Stephanie Ng, 24:00.2
259. Adrienne Ellison, 26:54.7
294. Cameron McCauley, 28:21.4