Qualifiers Announced for NAIA Cross Country National Championships at Fort Vancouver

Seven CCC Teams, Led by No. 1 Southern Oregon Men and No. 7 Concordia Women, Included in Field

www.cascadeconference.org

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the team and individual qualifiers for the 2010 NAIA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championships on Monday. The 55th Annual Men’s and 31st Annual Women’s event will take place at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington, on Saturday, Nov. 20. The women’s 5K run is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PST, followed by the men’s 8K at 11:45 a.m.

Admission to the championships is free. The event is being co-hosted by the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Concordia University (Oregon).

The Cascade Collegiate Conference will be represented by four men's teams and three women's teams, plus one male individual qualifier and three female individual qualifiers (see below).

Both the reigning team and individual national champion will be returning to defend their titles. California State-San Marcos headlines the 32-team women’s field, which features 24 conference/independent/unaffiliated group champions and eight at-large selections. The Cougars captured their first team title last year with 137 points to runner-up Biola’s (California) 140. Shorter (Georgia) senior Justyna Mudy will be back to defend her crown and look to become just the fifth woman in the event’s history to repeat as the national champion.

On the men’s side, Malone (Ohio) will vie for its fourth-consecutive and fifth overall team title among the 32-team field. Twenty-three of the 32 qualifying teams won their respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group race and eight additional teams earned an at-large berth to the event. Concordia (Oregon) received the host berth.

Source: Cascade Collegiate Conference

NAIA Men’s Team and Individual Qualifiers | NAIA Women’s Team and Individual Qualifiers | NAIA Cross Country National Championships Website