INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 13 Penn State women's cross country team has been selected for the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships with an at-large berth, as announced by the NCAA on Saturday, Nov. 10. The at-large berth marks the ninth time in the past 10 seasons the Penn State women will compete as a team at the NCAA Championships.
"I am very excited for Penn State women's cross country to be running at the national championships for the ninth time in the last 10 years," head coach John Gondak said. "We've had a phenomenal season and are excited for one last opportunity to compete against the best of the best at the NCAA Cross Country Championships."
This season as a team, the Nittany Lion women finished third at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships. Individually, five Nittany Lions have combined for four all-region honors and two All-Big Ten second team honors.
On Oct. 28 at the Big Ten Championships, Julia Paternain (10th) and Danae Rivers (14th) both earned All-Big Ten second team plaudits. Most recently at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 9, Alison Willingmyre (sixth), Rivers (seventh), Kathryn Munks (18th) and Moira O'Shea (25th) captured all-region honors.
Heading into 2018, the Penn State women have finished in the top-20 as a team at the NCAA Championships in each of the past three seasons.
The 2018 NCAA Championships are held at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Nov. 17. The women's 6k is set for 11:45 a.m. (EST). NCAA cross country fans not in attendance can watch the live stream of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships via FloTrack.org.