NORTON, OH — William Zegarski won the individual title at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Great Lakes Regional in thrilling fashion to help lead the Bulldog men to a third-place finish. This marked the third time in the last four seasons a Bulldogs has won the regional.

The race was held at the Silver Trail Cross Country Trail and was hosted by the Mid-American Conference.

Butler entered as the 21st nationally ranked team in the latest USTFCCCA poll with three of the runners, placing in the top 10. The Bulldogs were second as a team through the first 5,000 meters with all five runners in the top 41.

At the end of the race, Zegarski would out-lean Purdue's Douglas Buckeridge at the end of the race to claim the regional title. He would take home the win by just 0.2 seconds with a mark of 29:12.7.

Austin Gabay and Florian Le Pallec also earned All-Great Lakes Regional honors after finishing in the top with Gabay taking eighth at 29:28.3 and Le Pallec in ninth at 29:28.8. David Slapak was the next Bulldog across the line at 30:07.0 while Luke Henseler rounded out the scorers in 50th in 30:29.4.

Butler finished with 104 points as a team winning the tie-breaker with Michigan State. No. 19 Notre Dame secured the win at 70 points with No. 9 Wisconsin at 82 points.

Butler Men Team Results
1) No. 19 Notre Dame - 70
2) No. 9 Wisconsin - 82
3) No. 21 Butler - 104
4) No. 27 Michigan State - 104

Butler Men Individual Results (10K)
1) William Zegarski - 29:12.7
8) Austin Gabay - 29:28.3
9) Florian Le Pallec - 29:28.8
36) David Slapak - 30:07.0
50) Luke Henseler - 30:29.4
61) Sean Byrnes - 30:41.9
69) Martin Kovacech - 30:49.3

Butler Women's Race
The Bulldog women were led by Wiktoria Klewboska who crossed the line at 20:45.7. The next four runners ran as a pack with Ashlyn Minton finishing at 21:01.0 while Elsa Rusthoven followed just behind in 21:06.3. Renate Toldo and Hannah Moore then finished side-by-side at 21:10.9 and 21:11.9 to round out the Bulldog scorers.

Butler finished 14th out of 32 teams with a score of 381 points. Notre Dame claimed the top spot at 51 points with Wisconsin following in second at 97 points.

Butler Women Individual Results (6K)
54) Wiktoria Klebowska - 20:45.7
79) Ashlyn Minton - 21:01.0
82) Elsa Rusthoven - 21:06.3
84) Renate Toldo - 21:10.9
86) Hannah Moore - 21:11.9
100) Kylie Cline - 21:27.5
101) Ashley Learn - 21:28.7

Up Next: The Bulldogs will wait to hear their names called during the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Cross Country Selection Show tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET. The NCAA Championships then are set for Saturday, Nov. 23 with the first face slated for 10 a.m. ET.