Virginia's Men Earn At-Large Bid to NCAA Championships

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 21 Virginia men’s cross country team earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships, as announced Sunday by the NCAA Committee. The Cavaliers were among 13 programs to earn an invitation to the national meet, which will be held at the Wabash Valley Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 22.

The women’s 6k race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m., followed by the men’s 10k race at approximately 12:48 p.m. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from noon to 1:30 p.m., on NCAA.com. In addition, highlights from the championships will be included as part of the CBS NCAA Fall Seasonal Show scheduled to air on Saturday, Dec. 19 from 1-2 p.m.

The men’s team earned an at-large bid after finishing sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday. The Cavaliers were led by senior All-American and two-time ACC Champion Emil Heineking’s fifth-place finish (30:24.9) and redshirt junior Ryan Collins’ seventh-place finish (30:28.7).

This will mark the sixth-straight season, and seventh of the last eight, that the Cavaliers will compete at NCAAs. At last year’s championship, Collins led the Cavaliers to a 15th-place team finish by finishing 41st overall – one place shy of All-America honors.

Virginia’s 12th-ranked women will also compete at this year’s NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers earned an automatic berth after winning the NCAA Southeast Region Championship on Saturday. Junior Morgane Gay, sophomore Barbara Strehler, redshirt senior Stephanie Garcia and freshman Katherine Walker all earned all-region honors at the championship.

At last year’s NCAA Championships, Virginia finished 15th overall. This will mark the Cavaliers’ fifth appearance at the national meet in the past six years.