The Emory University women's cross country team winds up the 2011 season on Saturday when it competes at the NCAA D-III Championships. The women's 6k event begins at 11:00 a.m. (CST) and will be held at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin. Serving as the host institution will be UW-Oshkosh.
The Eagles, ranked 22nd nationally, will be one of 32 teams vying for the national title. Middlebury College enters this year's competition as the defending national champion after edging Washington University in 2010 in Waverly, Iowa.
This year's appearance at the Championships is Emory's seventh straight and 20th in the past 21 seasons. In 2010, the Eagles recorded a 26th-place finish.
Emory earned an automatic bid to this season's nationals by virtue of its first-place finish at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championships last weekend in Seguin, Texas. The Eagles topped the 30-team field with 45 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Rhodes who finished with 86 points. Senior Tess Gallegos (Kennesaw, GA) headed up the Eagles' effort by crossing the finish line in second place out of 197 entries with a 6k performance of 22:15.
The Emory men's team will be represented by senior Geraint Davies who qualified after posting a ninth-place finish overall out of 174 runners at last weekend's Regional Championships.
NCAA.com will webcast both the women's and men's races with the latter to begin at noon (CST). Links to the actual webcast will likely be posted on NCAA.com a few hours before start time.
For more information on the Championships, please go to:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/cross-country-women/d3