The Toledo women’s cross country team got the news it was expecting to hear on Saturday — the Rockets were chosen as an at-large selection for the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The Rockets learned of their good news watching the NCAA Selection Show together in the Joe Grogan Room in Savage Arena Saturday evening. Freshman Dominic Serem also earned an individual berth to the men’s NCAA Championships, thanks to a third-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday.
Toledo women’s cross country return to the NCAA Championship as a team for the sixth time in program history and second time in the past three years.
The Rocket women return to the NCAA Championship as a team for the sixth time in program history and second time in the past three years. Toledo earned its spot at the NCAA Championships thanks to a third-place showing at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet on Friday. The top two schools from each region made the field as automatic qualifiers. Toledo was one of 13 at-large selections from around the country.
“It’s really rewarding and validating, and I’m super proud of our women,” said Head Coach Andrea Grove-McDonough. “I’m proud of the way we bounced back from the disappointment of last year. While we still managed to win the conference title, we had a bigger goal to return to the NCAAs, like we did in 2022. It’s so rewarding to be able to bounce back from that and come out even better and stronger. I think we are even stronger than we were in 2022.”
Toledo made it back to the NCAAs on the strength of an outstanding performance at the NCAA Regionals on Friday, placing third overall with 100 points, just three points behind second-place Wisconsin. Redshirt freshman Mercy Kinyanjui captured first place with a personal best time of 19:29.7. Kinyanjui is just the second-ever Toledo women’s cross country runner to take the regional title, and the first since Rocket Hall of Famer Briana Shook won in 2002.
Senior Laura Nicholson followed behind Kinyanjui, grabbing a sixth-place finish with a time of 19:44.5. Senior Lou Trois took 18th overall with a mark of 20:01.4 while sophomore Lianna Surtz (27th/20:21.0) and Melody Jebiwot (48th/20:40.6) rounded out the scoring.
Toledo was the highest finishing Mid-American Conference program and placed ahead of five Big Ten schools — No. 29 Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and Purdue.
“We put together the most complete race of the season,” said Grove-McDonough. “To come that close to Wisconsin and an automatic berth, I think we are trending up at the right time.”
The Rockets will continue their quest for history at the NCAAs on Saturday. The best finish for Toledo at the NCAA Championships was 21st in 2011, and best individual finish was 24th by Shook in 2002. Grove-McDonough said she is looking forward to another great race by her squad.
“Honestly, we feel loose and relaxed,” Grove-McDonough said. “That’s a change from two years ago when we made it for the first time (with Grove-McDonough as head coach). We have a lot of maturity and leadership, so we are really excited about next week’s race.”
