Women's XC Receives At-Large Berth Into NCAA Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD

St. Louis, Mo., November 16, 2008 – The No. 9 Washington University women’s cross country team received an at-large berth into the 2008 NCAA Division III Championship meet, as announced by the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Track and Field committee on Sunday.

A total of 32 teams will compete in the NCAA Championship meet, with 16 slots being filled by the top two finishers at each of the eight NCAA Regional Championship meets, and 16 additional teams receiving at-large berths.

Washington University ran to a third-place finish at the Midwest Regional Championships in Rock Island, Ill., on Saturday morning, finishing just nine points behind the 2008 Midwest champion No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Four Washington U. runners, sophomore Taryn Surtees (fifth place), freshman Elizabeth Phillips (12th place), junior Molly Schlamb (20th place) and junior Hope Rathnam (32nd place), received All-Midwest Region recognition on Saturday.

Prior to Saturday’s race, the Bears had capture three-consecutive Midwest Region crowns and the automatic NCAA Championship berth that comes with winning a regional title.

The at-large berth into the 2008 NCAA Championship meet is the first for Washington U. since the 2004 season. The Bears ran to a school-record third-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships, with three student-athletes garnering All-America honors.

The 2008 NCAA Division III Championships take place on Saturday, Nov. 22, at the L.S. Ayers Complex in Hanover, Ind. The women’s race will begin at 12 p.m. (ET).