NCAA Cross Country Great Lakes Regional

press release: The full complement of Big Ten Conference men’s and women’s cross country programs will be racing Friday in NCAA regionals, seeking to earn team and individual bids to the NCAA Championships.

Six Big Ten schools will compete in the Great Lakes Regional in Madison, Wis., while five squads will travel to the Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Okla., and three teams will participate in the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bethlehem, Pa.

The Big Ten schools bound for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Wisconsin’s Thomas Zimmer Championship Course include Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin. The Wisconsin men and the Michigan women are the defending Great Lakes Regional champions, with the Wolverines having won the last four regional crowns. This year’s Great Lakes Regional will start with the women’s 6K race at 12:30 p.m. (ET), followed by the men’s 10K event at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern will race at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course in the NCAA Midwest Regional. That competition will begin with the women’s 6K at 11:30 a.m. (ET) and continues with the men’s 10K at 12:30 p.m. (ET).

Maryland, Penn State and Rutgers will represent the Big Ten in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, which will be contested at Lehigh’s Goodman Campus Course. The PSU women have won three of the past four Mid-Atlantic Regional titles, with this year’s event scheduled to start with the women’s 6K at 11 a.m. (ET) and conclude with the men’s 10K at noon (ET).

The top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team at each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be run Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind., at Indiana State’s Lavern Gibson Championship Course. An additional 13 teams and two individual participants will be chosen by the NCAA Division I Track and Field and Cross Country Committee through an at-large selection process, with the full field for the NCAA Championships announced during the NCAA selection show at 5 p.m. (ET) Saturday live on NCAA.com.

All three NCAA regionals featuring Big Ten schools will be streamed live on FloTrack Pro, a subscription-based service.

Entering regional competition, four Big Ten men's cross country teams are ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll. Big Ten Champion Wisconsin leads the way at No. 9, followed by No. 13 Indiana, No. 16 Michigan and No. 17 Purdue.

Seven women's cross country teams are ranked among the USTFCCCA Top 30 prior to regionals. Big Ten Champion Michigan State appears at No. 6, while Wisconsin checks in at No. 7, followed by No. 11 Michigan, No. 18 Penn State, No. 20 Ohio State, No. 22 Illinois and No. 26 Minnesota. Indiana is also receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA poll.