Michigan Headed to NCAA Championships for 19th Consecutive Year
3/7/2021 1:16:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's cross country team has been selected for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the NCAA announced Sunday afternoon (March 7) during its selection show.
With no Big Ten Conference Championships performance to show the selection committee due to the department-wide shutdown earlier this winter, a decisive victory at the Florida State Winter Cross Country Last Chance Invitational proved to be enough to merit inclusion from the committee.
The NCAA meet is scheduled for next Monday (March 15) in Stillwater, Okla.
This will mark the 19th consecutive season in which head coach Mike McGuire's Michigan squad has competed at the national championships, the third-longest active qualifying streak behind Stanford and Big Ten member Michigan State.
As part of the process of rescheduling the 2020 fall cross country season, significant changes were made to NCAA Championships qualifying. Gone this spring were the nine regional championships that usually play the biggest role in determining which teams advanced to nationals.
In their place was formed a selection committee that decided the NCAA field. That committee placed the greatest emphasis on conference championships performances in its selections, and evaluated teams' full bodies of work and head-to-head victories from there.
In terms of cross country performances, Michigan had just its win at Florida State on Friday (March 5) to its name. Led by an individual victory from All-American and NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships qualifier Ericka VanderLende, the Wolverines claimed the top seven spots in the individual standings, and all nine U-M runners finished top-10.
Next Monday's NCAA Championships for the women will be run at 11:50 a.m. CDT at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course live on ESPNU. The six-kilometer women's race will be followed by the 10K men's race at 12:40 p.m. CDT.
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