UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 20 Penn State women’s cross country team, along with Brian DiCola of the men’s team, were officially announced as NCAA Cross Country Championship qualifiers by the NCAA Saturday evening.
The 20th-ranked Nittany Lion women finished third in Friday afternoon’s NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet. The group missed out on the automatic qualifying spot, but now earn an at-large bid to this year’s championship meet based on points accumulated and head-to-head wins this season. The squad will head to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the second season in a row following their appearance in the meet last year. It is the women’s team’s 25th NCAA Championships appearance overall and its first back-to-back trip to nationals since the end of its five-year qualification streak in 2019. The Penn State women boast five Mid-Atlantic All-Region honorees and enter competition at the championships next weekend following an outstanding performance at regionals.
DiCola’s final push through the finish line during Friday’s men’s regional race propelled him to an individual qualifying spot in this year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships. Finishing fourth overall in the regional meet, DiCola all but secured his first NCAA Championship qualification during yesterday’s race. The Penn State sophomore is the men’s team’s first individual qualifier to the national cross country meet since both Colin Abert and Timothy McGowan moved on in 2017.
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