Men's and women's cross country receive bids to NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA announced today the BYU men's and women's cross country teams qualified for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships.

Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large.

By finishing second at the 2017 NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Friday, the No. 2 ranked BYU men’s cross country received an automatic bid to the championships. The No. 18 BYU women finished third at the Mountain Region Championships and received an at-large bid.

Last season, the BYU men finished seventh overall, the program's eighth top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships. The women entered last season's NCAA Championships with a No. 28 ranking but far exceeded expectations with a 10th-place finish. It was the Cougars' best finish since 2005.

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.

University of Louisville will host the championships, Saturday, November 18, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park located in Louisville, Kentucky. The women’s race will begin at 10:45 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by the men’s race at 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time. NCAA cross country fans can watch the live stream of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers for a monthly price of $19.99 or an annual price of $150. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video-on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the championships will be available starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time until the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Saturday, November 18, and can be accessed at www.FloTrack.com.