KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The final field for the 45th annual NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship has been released as 36 teams and 82 individuals have qualified. The field will prepare to race on Friday, November 22, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. CT at the Columbia, Mo., Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
UT Southern will be represented by
Cierra Arnold and
Emma Vizina.
Cierra Arnold
Arnold was named to the Southern States Athletic Conference All-Conference team with her sixth-place finish in the SSAC Championship. Her time placed her fourth on the all-time program list with a 23:29.7. She also has seventh best time for a 5K set this season in the NAIA Appalachian Challenge.
Emma Vizina
Vizina was named SSAC Player of the Week three times this season, and also earned an SSAC All-Conference award for her fifth-place finish in the championship race. She holds the program's best time of 19.12.2 for a 5K and 23:01 for a 6K. Vizina also holds four out of the top 10 in each race length in UTS history.
2024 CHAMPIONSHIP TIDBITS
- 2024's championship will be the first to take place in Columbia, Mo.
- This year's field comprises 24 automatic qualifiers, one host berth and 11 at-large berths. A team may qualify with an automatic berth by winning its conference championship meet or as the runner-up in the championship meet provided the conference has 12 or more schools and the runner-up is rated in the top 30 of the final NAIA Women's Cross Country rating, which is found HERE
- The 11 at-large berths were determined by the final NAIA Women's Cross Country rating and reviewed by the NAIA Women's Cross Country Oversight Committee.
- In addition to the team qualifiers, 82 individuals qualified for the championship based on their scoring finish at their respective conference meet.
- The Crossroads League boasts the highest number of team qualifiers in the 2024 field with five teams: Grace (Ind.), Indiana Wesleyan, Marian (Ind.), Taylor (Ind.) and Goshen (Ind.).
- The 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship will be streamed live on the NAIA Channel on the Urban Edge Network for free and can be found HERE.
View Individual Qualifiers
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