Bulldog Cross Country To Compete At Regional Championships This Saturday
Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally-ranked Ferris State University men's and women's cross country teams will take part in the 2012 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships with a potential berth into the national championships on the line this Saturday, Nov. 3, in Kenosha, Wis.
The 32nd annual women's postseason event and 55th annual men's championships will feature more than 300 student-athletes and kick off with the men's 10,000-meter (10K) race at 10:30 a.m. (CT). The women's 6,000-meter (6K) event will follow at 11:30 a.m. (CT) with the post-race awards ceremony set to begin around 1 p.m. (CT).
The regional championships will take place on the prestigious Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course and be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The regional field will include more than 20 men's and women's squads from the Midwest Region, which encompasses all schools located in both the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in addition to independent institutions.
Several of the top teams in each race as well as the top individuals not associated with one of those squads will qualify for the 2012 NCAA-II Championships set for Saturday, Nov. 17, at Joplin, Mo. Seven runners will compete per team in the scoring race.
The Bulldog women's cross country team currently ranks seventh nationally and is second behind Grand Valley State in the regional rankings heading into the regional championships. Meanwhile, the Bulldog men's team is sixth in the regional poll and 24th nationally going into the event.
The Bulldog women's team advanced to the national championships for the fourth consecutive campaign last season. It represented only the sixth time in history the Bulldog women's cross country team had qualified as a team for the national championships and their last four berths (2008-10) were the program's first appearances since 1987.
Ferris State's eighth-place performance in the national team race last year matched the Bulldogs' eighth-place finish at the 1981 National Championships and its showing in 2010 as the top efforts team-wise in Bulldog history.
Additionally, last year's second-place regional women's finish under head coach Steve Picucci also matched the program's best showing from 2010 since claiming the Great Lakes Regional crown in 1987. It was one of the top three regional efforts in school history in addition to the Bulldogs' Great Lakes Regional victory in 1981.
Last season, the men's team placed fifth in the region and narrowly missed advancing to the national championship in the 2011 event which was held at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids.
Earlier this year, Ferris State's women captured second place while the Bulldog men took fourth overall at the 2012 GLIAC Championships on Oct. 20 in Linwood, Mich.
For more information on the regional championships, please visit this link:
Regional Championships