Nov. 16, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Junior Jake Walker has earned an individual bid to the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships following his performance Saturday at the Great Lakes Regional meet, the league announced Monday.
Walker finished ninth with a time of 31:21.10 at the Great Lakes meet, earning his second career all-region honor. The senior from Ellwood City, Pa., will make his fourth trip to the NCAA Championships. Last season, Walker finished 66th with a time of 30:53.
The Irish women’s squad will also represent Notre Dame at the NCAA Championships after automatically qualifying for the national event with a first-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional.
Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large.
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 region.
Indiana State University will host the Championships, November 23, 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 12:08 p.m. (EST), followed by the women’s race at 12:58 p.m. Both championship races will be broadcast live on Versus Network and streamed online at www.NCAA.com.
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