The University of Toledo women’s cross country team received an at-large berth in the NCAA Cross Country Championships to be held at the University of Louisville Saturday, Nov. 17, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
The Rockets posed for a photo after winning the Mid-American Conference Championship last month.
The 18th-ranked Rockets ran to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet in Madison, Wis., Friday. Forced to compete without two-time, All-Mid-American Conference runner Megan Wright who has a leg injury, the Rockets were able to secure a top-five regional finish and an NCAA Championship berth for the third year in a row.
Toledo is one of only four MAC schools to qualify for the NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships and the only one to appear in multiple national finals. Toledo also is one of only 17 programs to qualify for the last three NCAA Championships.
Head Coach Kevin Hadsell praised his team’s ability to overcome the loss of a key runner and still make the NCAAs.
“You cannot put a price tag on having this kind of depth,” said Hadsell, who led his team to its third straight MAC title this year while earning MAC Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season. “To lose your No. 2 runner would put almost any program out of the nationals as a team. We are not a program that typically has injuries. We just had a run of bad luck with non-running related injuries, mono, iron deficiency and illness over the course of the season.
“I’m so proud of this team. We have our number nine through twelve runners out there battling in scoring spots for us and being fearless about being placed in this situation. It truly is ‘Toledo Tough.'”
Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in the women’s race. The top two seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large, including Toledo.
NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships
Saturday, Nov. 17, in Louisville, Ky.
Automatic qualifying teams
Arkansas
Connecticut
Duke
Florida State
Georgetown
Iowa State
Michigan
Michigan State
New Mexico
Oklahoma State
Oregon
Penn State
Providence
Stanford
Texas
Vanderbilt
Weber State
William and Mary
At-large teams
Arizona
Boston College
Butler
Colorado
Cornell
Florida
Georgia
Harvard
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Toledo
Villanova
Washington
