JOPLIN, Mo. – The Slippery Rock University women's cross country team will represent The Rock Saturday at the NCAA Division II National Championships hosted by Missouri Southern State University at the Tom Rutledge XC Course in Joplin, Missouri.
 
SCHEDULE - SATURDAY, NOV. 18 2023
• 11 a.m. (EST) – Women's 6,000-meter Race
 
MEET INFO
• Meet Homepage
• Course Information
• Women's Course: 6K Map (PDF)
• Course: Tom Rutledge XC Course
• Course Location: Missouri Southern State University Campus

COVERAGE
• Live Video
• Live Results Page
 
FIELD MAKEUP
The National Championships field for women's XC includes 34 complete teams of seven runners and 27 individual qualifiers from across the country for a total of 265 runners that will compete in the 6,000-meter race. View the entire field HERE.
 
ALL-AMERICA AWARDS
• The top 40 finishers in each race are declared All-Americans by the USTFCCCA.
 
ATLANTIC REGION WOMEN'S ENTRIES
• Charleston (full team)
• Slippery Rock (full team)
• Davis & Elkins (full team)
• Brianna Hennett, East Stroudsburg (individual)
• Elaina Klinger, Lock Haven (individual)
• Kelley Selheimer, Bloomsburg (individual)
• Kylie Anicic, Edinboro (individual)
• Malia Anderson, California (Pa.) (individual)
 
SRU ENTRIES
All seven of SRU's expected competitors will be making their debut appearance at the National Championships in cross country. Only Anna Igims has experience on the national stage after she qualified for the outdoor track and field national meet in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last spring.

• Maddie Grillo
• Ruthie Hughes
• Chelsea Hunt
• Anna Igims
• Madison Murtland
• Katie Plassio
• Lexie Wyant
• Jennifer Cichra (alternate)
 
SRU NOTES
• SRU is making its fourth team appearance at the national meet in cross country and its first since 2008. The Rock's first two trips came in 1993 and 1995, before any of the runners on the current SRU team were born.
 
• SRU qualified for one of the three automatic team bids from the Atlantic Region with a second place finish at the Atlantic Region Championships two weeks ago. It marked the highest finish by the SRU women at regionals since 2008.
 
• The Rock have had a stellar season and have not finished lower than fourth in any team competition this year, which included winning the PSAC team title for the first time since 1995. SRU was fourth in the Panther Opener hosted by Pitt, second in the RMU Colonial Invitational hosted by Robert Morris, third in the LHU Invitational hosted by Lock Haven, won the Bill Lennox Invitational hosted by SRU, won the PSAC Championships and took second at the Atlantic Region Championships.
 
• This will mark the third straight year Slippery Rock is represented at nationals after Marianne Abdalah qualified as an individual in both 2021 and 2022.
 
• SRU is looking for its first All-American in women's XC since 2009 and 2010 when Jennifer Harpp was 11th in 2009 and 15th in 2010.
 
• All five of Slippery Rock's scorers earned All-PSAC honors and finished in the top 20 at the PSAC Championships earlier this year with Anna Igims (3rd), Ruthie Hughes (8th) and Chelsea Hunt (12th) earning first team All-PSAC honors and Katie Plassio (17th) and Maddie Grillo (19th) earning second team honors.
 
• Three SRU runners earned All-Region honors for placing in the top 25 at the Atlantic Regional meet two weeks ago, led by Anna Igims in fourth. Katie Plassio was 15th and Ruthie Hughes was 17th at the regional meet, while Chelsea Hunt and Madison Murtland capped the scorers.
 
SRU WOMEN'S XC HISTORY AT NATIONALS
• Individual Results
• Team Finishes
 
RECAP AND RESULTS
Recap and results will be posted to www.RockAthletics.com Saturday evening.
 



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