At the very beginning of the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, John Carroll University was a fixture. From 1974-1978, the Blue Streaks qualified a men's team three times and had individuals make the field when the team did not.
Starting in 1979 and running up to 2002, there was no John Carroll presence at the national cross country meet.
Everything changed in 2003 when Cyril Pinchak for the men and Shannon McConville and Ellie Fernandez for the women made the Division III championship field. The Blue Streaks have had a steady stream of individual qualifiers since.Â
This year's duo is
Kyle Monahan for the men and
Cameron Bujaucius for the women. The two will represent the JCU program at the 2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships that will be held Saturday, November 17, at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wisconsin.
The championships begin with the 38th edition of the women's 6,000-meter race at 11:15 a.m. (local time) and conclude with the 46th version of the men's 8,000-meter race at 12:15 p.m. (local time).
Both championship races feature 32 teams and 280 runners while being comprised of student-athletes from 109 different institutions hailing from 27 different states.
Monahan qualified by finishing fourth while Bujaucius was 15th in the individual standings at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The top seven student-athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team were selected to participate in each championship in both genders.
The best men's finish at a national meet was turned in by Greg Louis in 1977, when he placed eight to earn All-American status. Other top showings were by Louis in 1976 (28th), Pinchak (31st in 2005) and John Kissinger in 1977 (41st).
For the women, Fernandez has the high water mark with a 12th place finish in 2005. She was also 19th in 2004. McConville was 19th in 2003 and 15th in 2004. Gabriella Kruez had the most recent All-American effort, placing 26th in 2013.
