Men's Cross Country Receives At-Large Berth Into 2011 NCAA National Championship Race

MEDFORD - The Tufts men's cross country team is on its way to Winneconne, Wisconsin this week to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship after it was announced on Sunday that the Jumbos received an at-large berth into the NCAA field.

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in the championship.  The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of eight regional races, for a total of 16 teams. Tufts was one of 16 additional teams that were selected at-large.

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh will host the championship on Saturday (Nov. 19) at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne. The men's race will start at 1 pm ET.

Coach Ethan Barron's Jumbos placed fifth at the NCAA New England Region Championship hosted by Bowdoin College on Saturday. They will be joined at Nationals by regional opponents Middlebury, Williams, Bates and Bowdoin as five New England squads qualified.

The Jumbos were led by three All-Region performers on Saturday. Junior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) finished third overall with a time of 24:58, sophomore Brian McLaughlin (Barrington, RI) was 30th with a time of 25:23, and junior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) finished 35th with a time of 25:28.

Rounding out the starting seven at the NCAA Race for Tufts will be sophomore Liam Cassidy (Brunswick, ME), senior Connor Rose (Irvine, CA), sophomore Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) and sophomore Ben Wallis (Dover, NH). The Jumbo alternate will be junior Sam Haney (Essex, CT).

This is Tufts' first team appearance at Nationals since the 2007 season. Marks ran at the NCAA Championship individually last fall.

NCAA Championship Race website

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