CLEVELAND, Ohio – After a week off from competition, the Cleveland State cross country team will return to action on Friday, November 11 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The women's 6K race is slated for a 1:00 p.m. EST start at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis.
Cleveland State will be one of 34 teams competing at the Great Lakes Regional, and one of eight Horizon League teams (Detroit, Oakland, Valparaiso, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Wright State, Youngstown State). The Vikings will be represented by seven runners at the NCAA Regional meet; Karen Barrientos, Samantha Butterbaugh, Jessica Finley, Olivia Hammons, Emily Marshall, Alanna Shamrock, and Ashlyn Woods.
The top two teams in each region will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championship (18 total teams), while there will also be an additional 13 at-large team bids. In addition to the team qualifiers, there will also be 38 individuals selected to compete at the NCAA Championship – 36 will be automatic qualifiers from their respective regions (top four finishers not on a qualifying team) and two at-large selections.
Cleveland State was last on the cross country course at the 2016 Horizon League Championship, where the Vikings finished eighth as a team. Cleveland State was paced by junior Karen Barrientos who became the first-ever Viking to earn All-Horizon League First Team honors with a fifth place finish. Barrientos recorded a career-best 6K time of 22:10, as the Ashtabula, Ohio native now owns Cleveland State records on both the 5K (18:05) and 6K courses.
2016 RACE-BY-RACE RESULTS | ALL-TIME TOP PERFORMANCES
Friday's race will be the fourth 6K of the season for the Vikings, with the trio of Barrientos, Woods, and Butterbaugh leading Cleveland State in all four races. Through the first three 6K races Cleveland State's top trio has been averaging a time of 23:11.