The Lewis-Clark State College women’s cross country team has received an at-large bid and will be one of 32 teams at the 2011 NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championship, officials from the NAIA announced on Monday.
The Warriors were ranked No. 16 in the final national poll and received one of eight at-large berths.
The women’s field features 22 conference/independent/unaffiliated group champions, one conference/independent/unaffiliated group runner-up and eight at-large selections. Concordia received a host berth to the event. There are also 105 individual qualifiers.
Cal State San Marcos will take a run at winning its third-straight women’s national title, while two-time runner-up Biola (Calif.) eyes a shot at taking home the banner for the first time in program history. LCSC will be looking to improve on its 18th-place finish of last season.
The Warrior women will be joining the No. 7-ranked Lewis-Clark State men’s team. The Warrior men won the Frontier Conference title last weekend and received an automatic bid to the championship.
With both Warrior programs headed to nationals, LCSC is now the only NAIA school to send both teams to the national meeting in each of the past six seasons. This year stands as the women’s 11th straight trip, and the men’s 10th.
Southern Oregon is aiming for a second title on the men’s side, but the field is wide open and the LCSC men look poised to push themselves near the top.
The men’s field consists of 21 conference/independent/unaffiliated group champions, one conference/independent/unaffiliated group runner-up and nine at-large selections. Concordia (Ore.) received a host berth to the event. There are also 100 individual qualifiers.
The 56th annual men’s and 32nd annual women’s event will take place at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 19. The men’s 8K championship race will start at 10:30 a.m. PST, followed by the women’s 5K run at 11:45 a.m.
