CARMEL, Ind. – Three individual runners and the Rose-Hulman men's cross-country team will be representing their HCAC member schools tomorrow at the 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships. 
 
The championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 22 at Roger Milliken Cross Country course in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The men’s race will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern, followed by the women’s race at 11 a.m. Eastern. 

Fans can find detailed information including: how to watch, live results and full schedules on NCAA.com by following this LINK.

Who is representing the HCAC at the Championships?

Rose-Hulman Men's Team: 

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s men’s cross country team delivered a record-breaking performance at last weekend’s NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship, earning a second-place team finish and an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. This marks only the third time in program history that the Fightin’ Engineers have qualified as a team for nationals, following appearances in 1974 and 2014.  The 2014 appearance by the Engineers was the last team qualification to the National Championships by an HCAC cross country team.  The Manchester Spartans had qualified as a National Championship contender in the four years prior to that.  Throughout the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), fans are hopeful that a return to those more successful years is upon us.   

Leading the charge was sophomore Sam Rinker (Noblesville, IN), who captured the individual title in the 8k race with a time of 24:51.27. Senior teammate Joshua Pohle (Osgood, IN) followed closely in second place at 24:52.77, giving Rose-Hulman an impressive 1-2 sweep at the regional championship. That rare feat had not been accomplished at the regional meet in 11 years, last achieved by Mount Union University in 2014.

Rinker’s victory was historic on multiple fronts: he became the first Rose-Hulman student-athlete to win the regional race, one of only three underclassmen to claim the title since 2000, and the first runner in HCAC history to capture the Great Lakes Region Championship.

The Fightin’ Engineers men’s team will be joined by the following three individuals at Saturday’s National Championship meet:

Ella Detjen – Transylvania University:  Detjen (Lexington, KY) has had a very impressive Freshman season for the Pioneers.  She followed her third-place finish at the 2025 HCAC Cross Country Championship with an impressive showing at the NCAA Regionals, placing 11th among the women with a 6k event time of 22:29.7.  That finish earned her one of the individual National Championship Qualifying slots.
 
Chesnee Miller – Manchester University:  Miller (Akron, IN), the 2025 HCAC Women’s Cross Country individual champion Freshman followed that winning performance with a solid 13^th place performance at the regionals, earning the final individual National Championship Qualifying mark out of the Great Lakes Region. 

Gavin Byerly - Manchester University: The Spartans Senior Gavin Byerly (Huntington, IN) like his female counterpart Miller, earned the 2025 HCAC individual title two weeks ago.  His 25:06.6 8k performance at the Regional Championships was strong enough for a fifth-place finish and a comfortable bid to the National Championships.  Byerly is likely to hook up with the men from Rose-Hulman this weekend in Spartanburg to try and get some lead pack pace for his final collegiate competition.

How did they qualify?

All ten of the HCAC schools’ cross-country squads competed at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships on November 15, 2025 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
For the individual runners, the first seven student-athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team, were selected to participate in each Division III National Championship.  For the women, that put the ‘cut line’ at the 13^th finisher.  For the men, the final qualifier was also ironically the 13^th placed participant.
 
On the team side, the top finisher in each of the 10 Division III regions automatically qualify for the national championship.  After those teams receive their championship bids, there are twenty-two additional teams selected at-large from around the country. 
 
Other Notable HCAC Performances at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Event
 
Manchester University Freshman Ayla Cashdollar (North Manchester, IN) finished in 17^th place, missing the NCAA national cut time by less than seven seconds. Rose-Hulmanr’s Jocelyn Onstot (Cary, IL) also had a top twenty finish in the women’s 6k event.  Both All-HCAC runners will return for their teams next season and will likely contend for National Championship bids.
 
For more information on HCAC Cross Country, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on X and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.