Women's CC To Compete At NCAA-II Nationals
Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally eighth-ranked Ferris State University women's cross country team will take part in the NCAA Division II National Championships for the third-straight year on Saturday (Dec. 4) in Louisville, Ky.
The NCAA-II Championships will be hosted by Bellarmine University and the Louisville Sports Commission as part of the NCAA-II National Championship Festival with the women's 6K event starting at 12 p.m. (ET). A combined total of forty-eight men's and women's collegiate teams and nearly 400 runners from across the country will gather in Louisville for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.
A total of more than 800 NCAA Division II student-athletes will compete for six national championships in the 2010 NCAA-II National Championships Festival this week (Nov. 30-Dec. 4) in Louisville.
FSU, which is currently ranked eighth in the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Poll, secured a national championships berth by running to a runner-up team finish in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championships held Nov. 20 in Louisville. The Bulldog women placed among the top three teams in the regional for the third-straight campaign to advance to nationals.
FSU totaled 79 points in placing behind regional champion Grand Valley State (26 points) while Hilldale took third (138) with the top three squads in the 22-team regional field all advancing to the national championships.
In addition to finishing second overall, the Bulldog women also had the individual regional champion as senior standout Tina Muir won the regional race for the second consecutive year. She clocked clocked 21:05.96 on the 6K course at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park and finished nearly five seconds ahead of second-place performer Katherine McCarthy of Grand Valley State. A total of 150 runners competed in the women's field.
Freshman Samantha Johnson also placed among the region's top 15 performers with an 11th-place finish (21:50.01). FSU sophomore Alyssa Osika came in 18th (22:20.32), sophomore Anna Rudd was 24th (22:29.35) and freshman Brittany Anderson took 25th (22:31.31) as the Bulldog women placed five in the top 25 overall. Sophomore Shelby Janutol was right behind in 27th place (22:33.75) and senior Paige Onweller came in 49th (23:01.39) at the regional championships.
The women's team race at the national championships will includes nationally top-ranked Adams State and second-ranked Western State of the Central Region along with third-ranked Grand Valley State. GVSU won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the Midwest Region titles this season.
A year ago, FSU ran to a 11th-place team finish while tying for the second-highest finish in school history during the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championships (Nov. 21) in Evansville, Ind. It marked the second consecutive trip to nationals for the FSU women after they placed third in the regional for the second-straight campaign.
This year represents only the fifth time in history the Bulldog women's cross country team has qualified as a team for the national championships as their 2008 and 2009 berths were the program's first appearances since 1987.
Last season, Muir took 12th place overall for the second-straight year at the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championships in earning All-America honors for the second consecutive campaign. She is one of only two women's cross country All-Americans in school history and her back-to-back 12th place national meet performances mark the highest individual finishes ever in school history.
This year's second-place regional finish under third-year head coach Steve Picucci also represents the program's best showing since claiming the Great Lakes Regional crown in 1987. It is one of the top three regional efforts in school history in addition to the Bulldogs' Great Lakes Regional victory in 1981.
The NCAA-II National Championships will be held on the same course utilized for the Midwest Regional Championships at Tom Sawyer State Park.
Please visit this link for more information on the event:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/diifestival/inc/diifestival.html