Freshman Abby Dalton of the Muhlenberg women's cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships by finishing 12th at the NCAA Mideast Regional, hosted by DeSales.

Dalton ran the 6K course in 23:17 to post the highest finish ever by a Mule first-year at the regional meet. She was the second freshman across the line and came in 12th out of 341 runners.

The NCAA Championships are scheduled for next Saturday, November 17, in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

Behind Dalton, the Muhlenberg women came in 10th - a six-place improvement from last year - out of 47 complete teams. The Mules finished eight points ahead of Lebanon Valley, which entered the meet ranked seventh in the region.

Another freshman, Marielle Avola, came in 19th and also has a chance to earn a bid to the national meet. If Carnegie Mellon and Haverford, the third- and fourth-place teams in the race, earn at-large berths to the NCAAs, Avola will earn a bid as an individual.

Both Dalton and Avola earned all-region honors, giving the Mule women two all-region runners for the first time since 2012.

Senior Corey Mullins earned all-region for the men's team for the third consecutive year by coming in 20th out of 357 runners. He is the fifth member of the Muhlenberg men's team to make the all-region team three times.

The Muhlenberg men came in 17th out of 52 teams, improving four places from 2017.

complete results: women | men

Women's Team Scores (top 10 of 47)
1. Johns Hopkins 36
2. Dickinson 79
3. Carnegie Mellon 137
4. Haverford 244
5. Misericordia 250
6. Messiah 274
7. Swarthmore 276
8. Elizabethtown 277
9. York (Pa.) 283
10. MUHLENBERG 302

Muhlenberg runners
12. Abby Dalton, 23:17
19. Marielle Avola, 23:41
38. Santina Zouras, 24:08
91. Stephanie Ng, 25:10
146. Victoria Cabellos, 25:57
178. Nicole Gibki, 26:35
245. Cameron McCauley, 28:34

Men's Team Scores (top 10 of 47)
1. Carnegie Mellon 76
2. Haverford 84
3. Johns Hopkins 134
4. Messiah 181
5. Elizabethtown 224
6. Widener 242
7. Dickinson 248
8. Stevenson 257
9. York (Pa.) 290
10. Washington & Jefferson 325

Muhlenberg runners
20. Corey Mullins, 26:35
41. Jason Richwall, 27:12
138. Jonah Silverman, 28:48
159. Christopher Funge, 29:01
176. Jacob Saxon, 29:21
201. Pat Smurla, 29:48
211. Stuart Bibeau, 29:57