Walker gains NCAA at-large selection

FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Miranda Walker, member of the University of Arkansas women’s cross country team, received an individual at-large bid into the 2010 NCAA Championships when selections were announced Sunday.

Walker paced the Arkansas crew at the 2010 NCAA South Central Regional in Waco, Texas, with a third-place individual finish. She clocked a 6K time of 20:27.9 to earn all-region honors. Walker’s result was Arkansas’ first top-three individual regional performance since the 2007 season. As a team, the Razorbacks finished third, one spot out of automatic qualifying position.

Walker will be making her fourth appearance in the national meet. In 2006 and 2007, she was part of the Razorback lineup and the past two seasons have been as an individual participant. Last season, Walker covered the 6K course in a time of 21:27.8, a personal best for the Southlake, Texas, native at the NCAA Championships.

In total, 38 individuals were selected to participate in each championship race through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process. All individual qualifiers finished in the top 25 of their respective region.

Indiana State University will host the NCAA Championships at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s 6K race will begin at approximately 11:08 a.m. (CT). A live webcast of the national meet will begin at 11 a.m. on NCAA.com.

Download: 2010 NCAA Championship qualifying list.pdf