After a successful Big 12 Championship, the Iowa State cross country team is preparing to qualify for the national championship with a good outing at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
The Cyclones will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to compete in a talented field in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Last season, both the men’s and the women’s teams ended their seasons at regionals.
The Cyclones will be faced with the challenge of taking on a handful of teams from the surrounding area, including many Big 12 and Big Ten opponents. Iowa State will also get to compete against all of its in-state rivals, Iowa, UNI and Drake.
Iowa State is coming off a strong finish at the Big 12 Championships, where the women finished third and the men finished fourth. Both teams finished behind Oklahoma State, who is hosting the Midwest Regionals.
Four Cyclones earned All-Conference honors at the Big 12 Championships. Iowa State’s Said Mechaal finished in seventh place, earning All-Big 12 honors. Madelynn Hill, Maelle Porcher and Janette Schraft also earned All-Big 12 honors by finishing in ninth, 11th and 12th, respectively.
Now the Cyclones will look for similar showings from the top runners in the Midwest Regionals. The Iowa State women clocked in at No. 18 in the most recent rankings, and the men found themselves ranked 20th.
Although the Cyclones are lower in the rankings, they are expected to be the No. 2 team coming into the Midwest Regionals. That is a good spot to sit for the Cyclones, as the top two teams at the regionals earn automatic bids to the national championships.
There are nine regional meets for the men and nine for the women across the nation, with 31 total spots at each the men’s and the women’s nationals. With two automatic qualifiers for each regional, 13 spots are open for grabs for the remaining teams past the top two.
The next 13 teams that earn the most Kolas points also earn bids to nationals. The top five individuals at the regionals will also earn automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships.
The Iowa State women are set to open up the meet for the Cyclones at 10:30 a.m. Friday, while the men follow at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Live stats can be found here. The meet will also be streamed live on okstate.com.
