Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams Qualify for NCAA Championships
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St. Louis, Mo., November 14, 2010 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s cross country teams have both qualified to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship meet, as announced Sunday by the NCAA cross country selection committee.
The Washington U. women automatically qualified for the championship as the second-place finisher at the 2010 NCAA Division III Midwest Region Championships, held Saturday, Nov. 13, in Rock Island, Ill. The WU men’s team received one of 16 available at-large selections, following their fourth-place showing at the Midwest Championships. A total of 32 teams will compete in both the men’s and women’s NCAA races.
This year’s NCAA Division III Championship is hosted by Wartburg College, and will be held on Saturday, Nov. 20, at the H.J. Max Championship Course in Waverly, Iowa. The men’s championship will begin at 11 a.m., with the women’s race to follow at Noon.
It is the seventh-straight NCAA appearance for the Washington University women’s cross country team, and the 10th in school history. The WU men will compete at the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in school history and in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.
It is the third time Washington U. has had both its men’s and women’s cross country squads qualify for nationals (2006, 2009). The Washington U. women finished 10th at last year’s championship meet while the men’s team posted a school-record seventh-place showing.
The Bears were one of five University Athletic Association (UAA) teams to be selected to compete in men’s championship field. In addition to Washington U., Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University and University of Rochester received at-large bids.
Five UAA squads also qualified for the women’s championship field. Emory University also was an automatic qualifier, with Case Western Reserve University, University of Chicago and New York receiving at-large invitations.