Cross Country: WVU Ready for Nationals
November 18, 2007 06:14 PM | General
November 18, 2007
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| Asselin |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 13 West Virginia University cross country team will run at the 2007 NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday at 12:55 p.m. The race will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center and will be broadcast live on CSTV.
WVU placed second in the region behind No. 4 Princeton to earn one of the 18 automatic bids for the NCAA Championship. There are 31 total teams in competition.
 Bland |
 Grandt |
All-BIG EAST and all-Mid-Atlantic Region performers Marie-Louise Asselin, Keri Bland and Clara Grandt lead the Mountaineers to just their fourth appearance at nationals (1997, 2000 and 2004).
“We ran the course today and the girls feel pretty good about it,” 2007 Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year Sean Cleary says. “Not one of these athletes has ever run at the NCAA Championship before, in track or cross country, so everything is brand new. We’ll see how we handle these variables.”
The probable lineup also includes freshman Kaylyn Christopher, sophomore Maria Dalzot and junior Alison Spiker. WVU’s lineup could see one change as freshman Kate Harrison may not race due to injury and will likely be replaced by former Wake Forest transfer, Mandy McBean.
The top 30 finishers in the event plus the top 30 American finishers will become All-Americans. The Mountaineers have two All-Americans in school history, Charity Wachera in 1997 and Megan Metcalfe in 2002 and 2004.
West Virginia’s highest finish at nationals was 15th, back in 2004.
