Big Ten Cross Country Set to Compete in 2010 NCAA Championships - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site

Big Ten Cross Country Set to Compete in 2010 NCAA Championships

Four men's teams, three individual runners to compete in national race

	The 2010 NCAA Championships will take place next Monday, Nov. 22, in Terre Haute, Ind.

Nov. 19, 2010

2010 NCAA Championships Preview

Big Ten cross country heads to Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 22, to compete in the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Four men's teams and four women's teams, along with three at-large men's athletes and six at-large women's athletes, will compete in the event.

The contingent of women's Big Ten teams traveling to Terre Haute is led by Big Ten and Great Lakes Regional Champion Michigan State. Michigan also earned an automatic berth to the championships after taking second at the Great Lakes regional. Minnesota and Penn State each earned at-large bids to the event after taking third place at the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regionals, respectively. Six individual runners will make the trip, in Iowa's Betsy Flood, Northwestern's Audrey Huth, Ohio State's Ellen Birmingham and Meredith Wagner and Wisconsin's Caitlin Comfort and Emily Sisson. The women's six-kilometer race will begin at 12:08 p.m. ET.

All four women's teams competing in the championships have earned top-30 status in the USTFCCCA women's cross country poll. Michigan State leads the way at No. 16, with Michigan checking in at No. 17 and Minnesota and Penn State appearing at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively.

Big Ten Champion Wisconsin leads the pack of Big Ten men's teams competing in the championships after finishing first at last weekend's Great Lakes regional. Second-place Great Lakes finisher Indiana will also compete, along with at-large qualifiers Minnesota and Penn State. The Golden Gophers took third at the Midwest regional, while the Nittany Lions earned a fourth-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic regional. The three men's individual qualifiers are Iowa's Jeff Thode, Michigan's Craig Forys and Michigan State's Patrick Grosskopf. The men's 10-kilometer race is set to begin at 12:48 p.m. ET.

All four men's teams enter the race ranked in the USTFCCCA top 30 poll. Wisconsin checks in at No. 4, followed by Indiana at No. 13, Minnesota at No. 23 and Penn State at No. 26.