5th-Ranked Men and Tulsa Women Get NCAA Championship Invites
3/7/2021 1:25:00 PM | Cross Country
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. –– The Tulsa men's cross country team, ranked 5th in the most recent USTFCCCA national coaches' poll, and the Golden Hurricane women received official invitations to the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships, it was announced today.
The NCAA championship is scheduled for Monday, March 15, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, just 62.8 miles from the city of Tulsa. The meet will be held at the OSU Cross Country Course.
The women's 6K race will begin at 11:50 a.m. (CT) and the men's 10K meet will start at 12:40 p.m. (CT). The NCAA meet will air on ESPNU with coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
The Hurricane men makes its third straight NCAA appearance and its 11th showing in the last 14 seasons, while the women are appearing at the national championship for the 4th time in the last 12 years and second straight.
Both Tulsa teams won the American Athletic Conference Championships in February. The Hurricane men won its 11th consecutive conference title, including all seven as a member of the AAC. The Tulsa women hoisted the AAC trophy for the fourth time in Tulsa's seven years as a conference member and for the second consecutive year.
The top-5 nationally ranked men's teams include No. 1-ranked and defending national champion BYU, Northern Arizona, Arkansas, Stanford and the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa's regional foes Oklahoma State and Iowa State are ranked No. 7 and 8, followed by Colorado, Notre Dame and Washington rounding out the top-10.
The Tulsa men enter this year's NCAA meet after racing twice in the winter season. In addition to claiming the AAC title, Tulsa also raced in a dual competition against OSU, Feb. 23, in an 8K race on this same championship course as OSU grabbed a 28-29 victory.
The Tulsa women, after winning the AAC Championship, also previewed the NCAA Championship course in February in a dual meet against the OSU Cowgirls.
Last year, Tulsa's men finished in a school-best 5th place performance with 243 points behind 1st-place BYU (109), Northern Arizona (163), Colorado (164) and Iowa State (211). The Cougars upended three-time national championship Northern Arizona last season.
Tulsa's returning runners Patrick Dever and Peter Lynch placed 11th and 13th, respectively at last season's NCAA event to earn All-America honors. The Hurricane also returns four additional runners – Cameron Field, Scott Beattie, Isaac Akers and Reed Sahadevan – from last year's NCAA team.
This season, Dever paced eight Tulsa runners among the top-20 at The American Championship with a first-place 8K time of 23:28.82. In addition to Dever, Tulsa runners finished the conference meet in places No. 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16 and 23.
The Tulsa women are making its second straight NCAA appearance and fourth in the history of the program. The Tulsa women had a school-best 25th place performance last year.
Caitlin Klopfer, who finished runner-up at this year league championship, leads the Hurricane women into this NCAA meet. Klopfer was Tulsa's top NCAA performer last season with a 67th place finish.
The national meet takes place on Monday, March 15 and can be seen live on ESPNU.
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