EOU Men and Two Women Qualify for National Championships
Mountaineers will send men and Coffey and Garcilazo to National Meet
Barrett Henderson, Sports Information Director
11/9/2009 3:15:55 PM
The Eastern Oregon University men's cross country team along with Karlee Coffey and Alma Garcilazo have qualified for the NAIA National Championships on Nov. 21 in Vancouver, Wash.
The Mountaineer men join 31 other teams and many individual invitations in the national field. EOU grabbed one of the eight at-large berths, while 24 automatic bids were given out.
Eastern was ranked No. 19 in Sunday's final cross country national poll. The Mountaineers join three other Cascade Collegiate Conference teams that qualified for the national meet. Concordia, ranked No. 24, is the event host and received an automatic berth. The Southern Oregon University men won the conference title and are ranked atop the national standings. And, The College of Idaho will race as the country's No. 8 team.
The Mountaineers' Karlee Coffey qualifies for her first national championship race. The freshman finished second the women's conference championship race Saturday. Alma Garcilazo qualified after finishing the top 15 in the race at No. 12.
The national championships will make its first appearance on the west coast Saturday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m. The races will be at Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Wash.