BTN.com staff, November 11, 2012
Big Ten Cross Country will be well-represented at the NCAA Championships, with four men?s teams, four women?s teams and nine individual runners selected to the field for the national meet. The championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 17, in Louisville, Ky.
Michigan and Wisconsin earned automatic berths to the men?s championships based on their top-two finishes at the Great Lakes Regional on Friday, while Indiana and Michigan State received at-large bids. Illinois? Hunter Mickow and Jannis Topfer, Ohio State?s Donny Roys and Purdue?s Johnnie Guy and Matt McClintock also qualified automatically based on their regional finishes, while Penn State?s Sam Masters earned an at-large bid.
The Michigan and Michigan State women?s teams finished in the top two at the Great Lakes Regional on Friday to lock up automatic berths to the national meet, while Penn State automatically qualified by placing first at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and Minnesota received an at-large bid. Indiana?s Kelsey Duerksen earned an at-large bid and Wisconsin?s Ashley Beutler and Gabi Anzalone qualified automatically based on their regional finishes.
The NCAA Championships are scheduled for Noon ET on Nov. 17, beginning with the women?s 6,000-meter race, followed by the 10,000-meter men?s race at approximately 1:15 p.m. ET.