INDIANAPOLIS— For the first time in ten years and for just the second time in program history, the Colorado Mesa University women's cross country team was selected to compete in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.
The announcement was made by the NCAA Division II Cross Country Committee on Monday afternoon.
The Mavericks, under the leadership of new Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Travis Floeck, received an "at large" team qualification spot after a strong finish at last Saturday's South Central Regional Championships and will toe the line at the national meet on Nov. 23 in Sacramento, California.
The races will be streamed on
NCAA.com. The women's race will begin at 11:15 a.m. PST (12:15 p.m. Mountain), after the preceding men's championship at 10 a.m. PST (11 a.m. Mountain).
The Mavericks last qualified as a team back in 2014 and finished 22
nd out of 32 teams that year.
In the time since, they have qualified five individuals since, including current Maverick
Kirstin Williams a year ago.
Kira MacGill also qualified and earned all-America honors in 2022 but has missed this season due to injury after redshirting in 2023.
Williams led the Mavericks at the Saturday's regional, placing 30
th individually and is a 2-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference performer since transferring from Utah Tech in advance of the 2023 season.
The rest of Floeck's regional lineup included
Megan Hodges,
Kate Linstedt,
Autumn McQuitty,
Quin Gregg,
Kendall White and
Brooke Miller, all of whom finished in the top 90 at Saturday's regional.
A total of 34 teams were selected for this year's national championship. Twenty-four of those teams automatically qualified after finishing amongst the top three at their respective regional championship on Saturday. The other ten teams were selected at large.
Six of those at-large selections ended up coming from the South Central Region, which had a national-leading ten teams, including the Mavericks, in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Top-ranked Adams State, which won Saturday's regional highlighted that list.
The Mavericks are one of eight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams to earn a bid joining the Grizzlies, the Colorado School of Mines and UCCS, who received the other two automatic team berths. Western Colorado, CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian also received at-large bids as did West Texas A&M, which placed fifth at Saturday's regional.
