INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee has announced the participants for the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships and one women’s program and three individuals will represent the SCAC in an announcement made on Sunday. NCAA Release
The Colorado College women’s received of the 22 at-large selections, while Southwestern’s Breanna Steele qualified as an individual, while on the men’s side, Colorado College’s Will Shuflit and Trinity’s Will Salony both qualified as individuals and will compete for the individual national crown.
In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals had to qualify in their respective NCAA regional competitions held this weekend.
Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top seven-person team automatically qualified from each of the 10 regions. Twenty-two additional teams were selected at-large.
Seventy individuals, the first seven student-athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team, were selected to participate in each championship. The list of advancing teams and individuals is outlined below.
Colorado College, ranked No. 2 in the country and four-time defending SCAC champions, will compete at the national meet for the fourth consecutive year. The Tigers finished 22nd last season after placing 20th in 2022 and 27th in 2021. CC finished second at the West Region meet on Saturday.
Colorado College saw six athletes earn all-region honors last weekend, led by senior Isabel Olson who finished in fourth place with a time of 21:01.4. Her fourth place finished equaled the best finish by a CC runner at the event in the last 22 years. Junior Alison Mueller-Hickler (10th), senior Sydney Rankin (11th), sophomores Abby Goodfried (18th) and Charlie Flint (19th) and senior Britt Helgaas (28th) all joined Olson as all-region honorees.
Breanna Steele, who finished seventh at the SCAC Championships two weeks ago, qualified individually after finishing eighth at last weekend’s West Regional to earn all-region honors. The junior finished the course in a time of 21:29.1.
Will Shuflit, the SCAC Runner of the Year, after winning the individual conference crown two weeks ago, finished fifth at the West Region last weekend to secure all-region honors. The sophomore broke his own school record with an 8K time of 24:15.7.
Will Salony will compete at nationals for the third consecutive season after posting the program’s best individual finish in history last year when he placed 58th. The senior earned all-region honors last weekend when finished 11th with a time of 24:32.0.
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is hosting the championships Nov. 23 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women’s race will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern, followed by the men’s race at noon Eastern.