DENVER, Colo. – The ninth ranked University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's cross country team automatically qualified for the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship meet after finishing third at today's NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship, held at Washington Park in Denver, Colo.
 
INSIDE THE NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Course: Washington Park
• Location: Denver, Colo.
• Course Length: 6k
• Elevation: 5,322'

AROUND THE COURSE

• Recording a runner-up finish and just two seconds away from the individual title, Anna Fauske paced UCCS with a time of 21:20.68, marking the second time a Mountain Lion has finished second overall at the regional championships (Layla Almasri, 2021).
• Kate Hedlund led a pack of Mountain Lions that finished 20 seconds within each other.  Hedlund penned a time of 22:53.48 to finish 25^th overall, just two seconds ahead of Kaya Pillivants' 27^th place finish (22:55.43).
• Molly Breuer registered a time of 23:09.05 to place 32^nd overall as Madison Brosig rounded out the Mountain Lion scorers with a 34^th place finish and a time of 23:11.43.

                       
RACE LEADERS

• Finishing just a hair ahead of Fauske was Tristian Spencer of Adams State University, posting a time of 21:18.56.
• ASU's 37 points bested all 25 teams to win the reginal championship. Colorado School of Mines finished second as a team with 75 points, followed by the Mountain Lions' 120 points.

 
BEYOND THE FINISH LINE

• Fauske earns her third straight USTFCCCA All-South Central cross country honor as Hedlund records her second all-region accolade.
• Today's third place finish marks the eighth straight year UCCS has finished in the top five of the regional championship, and the seventh time in program history finishing third as a team.

 
UP NEXT

• The 34-team NCAA Division II field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 11.  The top three teams from each regional meet will automatically advance to the championship finals (24 teams total).  Ten at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee using the selection criteria. There is no limit to the number of at-large teams that may be selected from any given region.

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.