INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Colorado College women's cross country team received an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Division III Championships in an announcement made on Sunday. NCAA Region X Results
The Tigers, who finished third at the West Region meet on Nov. 12, will compete on Saturday, Nov. 20 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., beginning at 11 a.m. (ET). The team champion automatically qualified from each of the 10 regions, while 22 at-large teams were selected on Sunday.
By virtue of both Pomona-Pitzer and Colorado College receiving at-large berths from Region X, Trinity University senior Abby Blackwood earned an individual entry into the national championships meet. The all-SCAC honoree finished 14th overall in last weekend's NCAA Regional in Claremont, California with a time of 22:40.1.
Sunday's selection marks the first time Blackwood will compete in the national event as her debut season in cross country came last spring where she was named the SCAC Newcomer of the Year.
Both Blackwood and University of Dallas senior Anna Wilgenbusch - as top seven finishers outside of the individuals from teams who earned automatic or at-large bids - will compete at next weekend's championship meet in Louisville, Ky. Wilgenbusch, the league's Runner-of-the-Year in 2019, placed 10th in a time of 22:28.9. She earned both all-Region and all-American honors for her performances during the 2019 post-season.
The Colorado College women are the first conference team to qualify for the national championship meet since the Trinity women finished 16th at the 2017 Championships.
"I am so happy the women's team will be representing Colorado College at the national championship meet," head coach Alex Nichols said. "This team is an extremely special group of runners that has dedicated themselves to this goal since day one. Now we get the chance to show what the CC Tigers are made of at the highest level of competition."
Freshman Elliot Singer finished fifth overall, the top first-year finisher, at the West Region Meet with a 6K time of 22.10.6. The reigning SCAC champion posted the best finish by a CC runner at the regional meet since Jenny Jorgensen finished third in 2004.
Junior Kendall Accetta finished 22nd with a time of 23:08.1, while fellow junior Claire Quinn was 26th in 23:16.0. Both joined Singer on the all-region team by placing in the top 35. Senior Megan Koch just missed all-region honors with a 36th-place result in 23:31.5 and freshman Sydney Rankin was CC's final scoring runner and finished 47th in 23:45.6.
The last time Colorado College competed at the national meet as a team was 2016, when the Tigers finished 12th.
