Clayton Sayen Named NCAA Division II All-Region
NEW ORLEANS - All-Region honorees for the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country season were recognized on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and Michigan Tech junior Clayton Sayen became the second Michigan Tech men's cross country runner in team history to earn the distinction for a second time (Braden Reichl - 2018, 2019).
Sayen (Houghton, Michigan) has had an outstanding season for the Huskies this fall, helping Tech to second place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and fourth place at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championships on Saturday. Sayen also earned All-Region honors last year as well as All-GLIAC First Team accolades.
This season, Sayen consistently finished at or near the top of the podium. He won the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minnesota with an 8K time of 25:17.7 against a field of 374 runners at Les Bolstad Golf Course. Sayen also finished fourth at the GLIAC Cross Country Championships with his personal top 8K time of the season (25:04.2). He crossed the line 11th at the NCAA Division II Region Championships with a 10K time of 30:44.6 and added top-10 finishes at the Lewis Crossover (sixth) and Warrior Challenge (third).
A total of 200 men from 81 different programs and 200 women from 94 different programs earned the distinction of All-Region by virtue of a top-25 finish at one of the eight regional sites this past weekend. Only athletes from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.
Michigan Tech men's cross country narrowly missed an automatic bid for the NCAA Division II Championship Finals, hosted by Saint Leo by finishing fourth at the Region Championships, but can still qualify for an at-large bid, determined this week.