Saints Earn At-Large Bid into NCAA Championship Field

by: 

Tara Freeman

The Saints have earned a spot in the 2008 NCAA Championship field.

Nov. 16: After narrowly missing out on a team berth to the NCAA Championships last season, the wait is over for the St. Lawrence University men's cross country team, as they have received an at-large bid into the 2008 championships.

"I thought we raced very well yesterday (at the NCAA Atlantic Regionals) and left it all on the course," said Saints' head coach John Newman, whose squad finished in fourth place at Regionals thanks to a 7th place finish by sophomore Dan Ramsey and an 11th place showing by first-year student Steve Kiplagat. "We had a very strong season, and we're looking forward to getting to Indiana."

In order to be eligible to participate in the national championship, teams and individuals must qualify in their respective NCAA regions by finishing in the top-five as a team or top-seven individually.

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in both the men's and women's championships. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regions, for a total of 16 teams. Sixteen additional teams were selected at-large. Fifty-six individuals, the first seven athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team, were selected to participate in each championship.

The 2008 NCAA Championship races will be run on Saturday, November 22nd at Hanover College at the L.S. Ayres Complex in Hanover, IN. The men's race will begin at 11:00am eastern time followed by the women's race at 12:00pm eastern time.