NCAA Cross Country Championships

press release: A total of 10 Big Ten Conference cross country teams (six women and four men), along with five individuals, have been selected to compete at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships. All told, 11 of the Big Ten’s 14 schools will have either one or both cross country teams or an individual competitor headed to the NCAA meet, which will take place Saturday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

The NCAA Championships will begin at 11:45 a.m. (ET) Saturday with the women’s 6K race, followed at 12:45 p.m. (ET) by the men’s 10K race. FloTrack will provide live coverage of both races online through a paid streaming service at FloTrack.com. The top 40 finishers in each race will earn USTFCCCA All-America honors.

The host school, Wisconsin, will send both its men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA Championships, with each squad earning an automatic bid after finishing in the top two at the Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 8. The Big Ten Champion Badger men won their 30th regional title and second in three years, while the UW women finished second, their best regional finish since 2014, led by individual champion (and recently-crowned Big Ten medalist) Alicia Monson.

Michigan will also have both programs competing at Saturday’s NCAA meet through automatic qualification. The Big Ten Champion Wolverine women won their fourth consecutive Great Lakes Regional championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 17th consecutive year, while the Michigan men finished second behind Wisconsin to secure their second consecutive NCAA berth and seventh in the past eight seasons.

Indiana will be the third Big Ten school to send both cross country programs to this weekend’s NCAA Championships, with this marking the first time since 2013 that the Hoosiers will have both teams racing at nationals. Both Indiana squads earned at-large berths after placing fifth at the Great Lakes Regional, with the Hoosier men headed to the NCAA meet for the 39th time, while the Indiana women earned their 10th bid to the event.

The other Big Ten programs to qualify for the NCAA meet through at-large berths were the Purdue men, along with the Michigan State, Minnesota and Penn State women.

The Boilermakers finished fourth at the Great Lakes Regional and will be making their first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 1985 and the 13th in program history. Purdue’s spot at the national meet was fueled by Jaret Carpenter, who won the Great Lakes Regional individual title race last weekend.

The Spartans placed third at the Great Lakes Regional, following a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships last month. Michigan State will be making its 17th consecutive NCAA Championships appearance this weekend, joining Michigan for the second-longest active streak of NCAA berths behind only Stanford (25).

The Golden Gophers were the top Big Ten finishers at the Midwest Regional, taking third-place honors. Minnesota will be making its 13th trip to the NCAA Championships in the past 14 years.

The Nittany Lions also wound up third in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, collecting their fourth consecutive NCAA bid and ninth bid in the last 10 seasons.

In addition, Iowa’s Nathan Mylenek and Nebraska’s Mark Freyhof and George Kusche will compete as individuals at the NCAA Championships. All three finished in the top 10 at the Midwest Regional, with Mylenek third and Kusche fourth to earn automatic qualification, while Freyhof’s 10th-place finish led to an at-large berth. Of note, the Husker men will be sending two runners to the national meet for the first time since 1997, while Mylenek’s third-place regional finish was the best by a Hawkeye runner since 2006.

On the women’s side, Maryland’s Emily Bracher and Northwestern’s Audrey Roberts will represent their schools at the NCAA meet. Bracher placed 14th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and received an at-large bid, becoming the second Terrapin woman in as many seasons to be invited to nationals, following Alexandra Lucki in 2017. Meanwhile, Roberts will make her third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships after she automatically qualified by virtue of her fourth-place showing at last weekend’s Midwest Regional.

Heading into Saturday’s NCAA Championships, all four competing Big Ten men's cross country teams are ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll. Wisconsin leads the way at No. 3, followed by No. 20 Michigan, No. 22 Purdue and No. 24 Indiana.

The six women's cross country teams racing at the NCAA Championships are also ranked among the USTFCCCA Top 30 this week. Michigan heads up the conference contingent at No. 6, with Wisconsin at No. 10, followed by No. 12 Michigan State, No. 20 Indiana, No. 22 Penn State and No. 27 Minnesota.