Complete GNAC/NCAA release (PDF)
SEATTLE -- The Seattle Pacific cross country teams will have even more incentive to qualify for nationals in the near future. That's because in 2011 and 2013, the NCAA Division II championship meet will be run considerably closer to home when Spokane plays host to the event.
The announcement of Spokane's selection was made earlier this week by the NCAA, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Spokane Regional Sports Commission. The GNAC and the Sports Commission will serve as co-hosts.
Both meets will take place at the Plantes Ferry Sports Complex, which is the site of several baseball and soccer fields. The 2011 meet is set for Saturday, Nov. 19, and the 2013 meet is on Saturday, Nov. 23.
“Over the past few years, the GNAC has established itself as one of the top two or three Division II cross country running conferences in the country, so we are very pleased the NCAA has awarded us the national championships,” conference commissioner Richard Hannan said.
The Spokane area is well acquainted with top-flight running competition. It hosted the 2010 USA Cross Country nationals this past spring and is scheduled to be the site of he 2010 and 2011 USATF 15-kilometer trail running national championships. Spokane also has been home to the 2008 USA Club Cross Country nationals, and the 2006 USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country nationals.
The Seattle Pacific women have brought home three straight trophies from the NCAA meet. The Falcons finished second in 2007 and were fourth in 2008 and 2009. Those meets were in Joplin, Mo.; Slippery Rock, Pa.; and Evansville, Ind., respectively.
The 2010 meet will take place on Dec. 4 in Louisville, Ky., as part of the Division II Fall National Championships Festival.
Last fall, in addition to the Falcon women, four other GNAC teams made it to nationals. On the women's side, Alaska Anchorage was fifth, one spot behind Seattle Pacific, and Western Washington ran eighth. For the men, Western Washington earned the fourth-place trophy, and Alaska Anchorage was 17th.
