NCAA Regionals Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 28 Arkansas Razorback women’s cross country will continue the 2009 season with a 6K race at the 2009 NCAA South Central Regional Cross Country Championships. The gun will go off at 11 a.m., Sat., Nov. 14 at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas.

Alyssa Allison, Cali George, Kristen Gillespie, Megan Jackson, Taylor Johnson, Samantha Learch, Miranda Walker, Ashley Williams and Keri Wood arein contentionto compete for the Razorbacks this weekend. Baylor, Houston, Lamar, LSU, Rice, No. 25 SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M and TCU, along with No. 28 Arkansas, will compete at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday.

In the current edition of the USTFCCCA weekly rankings, the Razorbacks are listed at No. 2 in the South Central rankings and No. 28 in the national poll. Arkansas is one of just three SEC schools in the poll. Florida is ranked No. 3 and Tennessee is listed at No. 29.

The NCAA South Central Regional is one of nine gateways to the NCAA Championships in two weeks. All teams wishing to compete at the NCAA meet must qualify through one of the regional meets or receive an at-large selection based on their body of work through the year. To qualify out of the regional, teams must finish among the top two teams. Since 1997, the country has been divided up into nine regions and the Razorbacks are a part of the South Central, which includes schools from Arkansas, Louisiana and east and central Texas.

Since the regional meets were first conducted in 1982, Arkansas has been among the top three teams every season and has been one of the two automatic bids to the NCAA Championships 22 times, including 15 outright titles. In 2008, Arkansas had six of its seven runners earn all-region honors and secured a 10-point margin of victory. Six Razorbacks have taken the individual championship at the regional meet. Only three Razorbacks have won two individual titles (Deena Drossin, Megan Flowers, Lilli Kleinmann). Arkansas’ largest margin of victory was 67 points at the 1994 meet. Arkansas’ closest victory was in 2005, one point.

For more meet information, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com or BaylorBears.com.

Download: 11.14.09 NCAA Reg.pdf