• Complete National Qualifiers Release | OVC Regionals Recap
The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee announced today the team and individual qualifiers for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships.
After qualifying for five-straight NCAA Championships (the second-longest streak in OVC history), the Eastern Kentucky men's team just missed out on one of the 13 at-large spots.
Thirty-eight individuals were selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process. All individual qualifiers finished in the top 25 in their regions.
The OVC qualifiers included Eastern Kentucky sophomores
Erick Rotich and
Charlotte Imer.
Rotich, the two-time OVC Athlete of the Year, finished fifth in the Southeast Region field with a time of 29:02.8. Rotich was 90th at the NCAA Championship a year ago when he participated with the EKU team.
Imer was also fifth on the women's side at the Southeast Region; the OVC Athlete of the Year finishing the 6K course in 20:30.7. Overall she is the seventh different OVC female athlete to earn a bid to the OVC Championship.
Indiana State University will host the championships, Saturday, November 19, at LaVern Gibson Championship Course at Wabash Valley Family Sport Center located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women’s race will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by the men’s race at approximately noon Eastern Time. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from 11 a.m. Eastern Time until the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Saturday, November 19, on NCAA.com.