The Cal Poly men's cross country team and four individuals received an at-large selection to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, as announced today by the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee.
Indiana State is set to host the Championships, Nov. 21, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The men's race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m. ET, followed by the women's race at approximately 12:58 p.m. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from noon to 1:30 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 21, on NCAA.com.
The Cal Poly men's team was one of two West Region schools to earn an at-large selection and will be joining automatic qualifiers Stanford and Portland from the region. The Mustangs selection was propelled by the team's third place finish at Saturday's NCAA West Regional at Stanford. The Mustangs placed all seven runners in the top 47 with senior Daniel Gonia setting the pace with his ninth place finish, covering the 10k course in a time of 29:28.
The Cal Poly women's program earned two individual selections to the 2011 Championship, with senior Leanne Fogg and true freshman Meghan Breadmore picking up postseason bids. This marks the first time that an individual or team from the Cal Poly women's program has advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship since the Mustangs made the jump in 1994. Cal Poly upset a number of schools with its ninth place finish at the regional with the team paced by senior Leanne Fogg's 16th place finish and true freshman Meghan Breadmore's 17th place finish. Fogg ran the 6k course in a time of 20:45 with Breadmore posting a time of 20:47.
Other Big West at-large selections on the men's side are UC Davis' Jonathan Peterson and UC Riverside's Chad Hall, who are both making their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship.
Peterson's strong regional finish on Saturday secured his spot in the postseason as the senior finished tenth overall in a time of 29:30 in the 10K race at the Stanford Golf Course. The Clovis, Calif.,turned in a fifth-place finish at the Big West Championships on Oct. 29 with a time of 24:03.6, then recorded the tenth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional meet on Saturday.
WIth a career-best time of 29:28, Hall finished in eighth place at the NCAA West Regional on Saturday morning, setting the table for a berth into his second NCAA Championship. The 2011 BIg West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year took home the individual crown at the conference championship, finishing the 8K race in 23:41.9.