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Forsey, Drazba Are NCAA Championship-Ready
November 18, 2016 01:47 PM | Cross Country
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt juniors Jillian Forsey and Maggie Drazba are geared up and ready to represent the West Virginia University cross country team at the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Hosted by Indiana State, the women’s 6k championship race is set to being at 11 a.m. ET at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Links to live results will be available on NCAA.com. Additionally, Flotrack will stream the race live at FloTrack.org.
“We are very pleased to have these two selected to run against the nation’s best on Saturday,” said coach Sean Cleary. “This is the fourth time that a WVU duo has accomplished such an honor. Both of these young ladies are running very well at the moment. It will be exciting to see them return to the biggest stage of women's distance running outside of the world cross country championships.”
Forsey punched her ticket to the national championships after finishing second overall with a time of 20:09 at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 11. Drazba was the second Mountaineers finisher, placing 11th with a time of 20:47. She was selected to compete at the NCAA Championships by the committee on Nov. 17. The two Mountaineers earned all-region honors for placing in the top 25 at regionals. West Virginia placed fourth overall as a team.
Forsey, a Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, native, will race in her third NCAA Championships, the first as an individual qualifier. In 2014, she placed 14th with a time of 20:17.9 to earn All-America honors. At the 2013 championships, she placed 145th with a time of 21:37.5.
Drazba, a native of St. Mary’s, West Virginia, competed at the NCAA Championships once before when WVU qualified as a team in 2014. She placed 91st overall with a time of 21:09.2.
This is the fourth time in program history that two Mountaineers will represent the Old Gold and Blue at the National Championships. Rebecca Stallwood and Merissa Sexsmith were the duo in 1999, Megan Metcalfe and Tara Struyk in 2003 and Kaitlyn Gillespie and Sarah-Anne Brault in 2010.
West Virginia is receiving seven votes in the latest U.S. Track and Field Cross Country and Coaches (USTFCCCA) National Poll.
Thirty-one teams were selected to compete at the NCAA Championships, with 18 automatic bids (the top-two teams in each region) and 13 at-large bids. In addition to the automatic team and individual qualifiers from NCAA Regionals, an additional 38 individuals were selected to participate through an at-large selection process. All selected individuals finished in the top 25 in their regions.
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