Lewis Completes Cross Country Season

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Paul Lewis approaches the finish line in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship.WINNECONNE, Wis. – Albion College sophomore Paul Lewis completed the second-fastest 8K race in school history while running as an individual in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Club. Lewis, who prepped at Albion High School, finished 74th among 279 runners. He reached the finish line in 25:07.77 for a pace of 5:04 per mile.

Kurt Schafer set Albion’s fastest 8K time, 25:03, in 1980.

Lewis was the eighth runner from the Great Lakes region to reach the finish line.

“Paul was aggressive early and he fought his way home,” Albion Coach Hayden Smith said. “He was in the top 40 at the mile mark and he was running a sub-five minute pace through three miles.

“Paul was a great representative of the Albion College cross country team,” Smith added. “Paul’s efforts have always been about the team and he was representing the entire team today.”

Lewis, in fact, was the 31st runner to complete the first mile (4:46), and he was 39th after three miles (14:54).

Lewis helped Albion achieve a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship. Six of the seven runners Albion sent to the regional meet are expected to return for the 2012 campaign.

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Meet Results