Jumbo Men's Cross Country To Vie For NCAA National Championship Berth At Regional Race On Saturday

MEDFORD - The Jumbo Men's Cross Country team will be vying for a national qualifying spot at the NCAA Regional Championships hosted by Bowdoin College this Saturday. Tufts will be looking to earn its first berth into the NCAA Championship field since 2007. The race begins at noon.

Coming off of a fifth-place finish at New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship two weeks ago, Coach Ethan Barron's team will need to improve upon that performance in order to book their tickets to Winneconne, Wisconsin, site of the 2011 NCAA Championship Race next Saturday (Nov. 19).

After two weeks of tapering, Tufts travels to Brunswick on Saturday with a firm knowledge of the course. They won the Maine Invitational on the same course to open the season on September 17. Junior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) won the race, covering eight kilometers in a 25:05.99 time.

With a third-place at the NESCAC race, Rand will lead the Jumbos at the Regional. However, depth is a strength of the current squad as the second through seventh Tufts runners all finished within thirty seconds of each other at NESCACs.

Junior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) will be looking to return to the NCAA Championship, hopefully with his teammates this time. He qualified individually last year and finished 64th at Nationals. Sophomore Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) also scored for the Jumbos at both the Maine Invitational and at the NESCAC Championship.

Currently ranked at 24th in the nation by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the Jumbos will likely need to finish among the top four teams at Regionals for a chance at a bid to the NCAA Championships. The Jumbos were eighth at the NCAA Regionals last season.

The top two teams at this weekend's regional event will automatically qualify for the national championship meet at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is serving as the host institution for this year's championship.

After determining the 16 automatic qualifying teams from the eight regional sites, 16 other squads will be selected at large by the championships committee to participate in the NCAA championship. Only the top five teams in each region will be considered. Regional performance/place is the primary piece of criteria.

In addition to the 32 teams that will make up the men's and women's championship fields, 56 individuals will be invited to compete at the event. The top seven harriers from teams that have not qualified for the championship will be selected. A total of 280 runners will compete on Nov. 19.

NCAA Cross Country Regional Website

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