Titans Receive At-Large Bid To NCAA Championship

A third-place finish at the Midwest Regional and attention-grabbing results throughout the regular season earned UW-Oshkosh an at-large selection to the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship that will be held Saturday (Nov. 23) at Hanover College's L.S. Ayres Athletic Complex in Hanover, Ind.

The NCAA officially announced the 32 teams for its championship on Sunday (Nov. 17). The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regional meets held Saturday (Nov. 16), while 16 additional squads were selected at-large. The meet also includes 56 individuals who were not a part of a qualifying team.

UW-Oshkosh sealed its at-large invitation with a strong performance at the Midwest Regional held in Rock Island, Ill. North Central College (Ill.) captured the team title with 56 points, while Washington University (Mo.) finished second with 101, UW-Oshkosh third with 118, UW-Eau Claire fourth with 128, UW-La Crosse fifth with 133 and the University of Chicago (Ill.) sixth with 220.

Earning automatic bids to the championship were Bridgewater College (Va.), Calvin College (Mich.), Central College (Iowa), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.), Dickinson College (Pa.), Emory University (Ga.), Johns Hopkins University (Md.), North Central College, Middlebury College (Vt.), New York University, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.), St. Olaf College (Minn.), State University of New York-Cortland, Wabash College (Ind.), Washington University and Williams College (Mass.).

Other at-large invitations went to Allegheny College (Pa.), Bates College (Maine), Carleton College (Minn.), Colby College (Maine), Haverford College (Pa.), Loras College (Iowa), Luther College (Iowa), Manchester University (Ind.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. Lawrence University (N.Y.), State University of New York-Geneseo, Tufts University (Mass.), University of Chicago, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse.

UW-Oshkosh will be appearing at the championship for the 22nd time. The Titans have 15 top-10 finishes on their resume, including first-place listings in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2002. UW-Oshkosh finished third at the championship in 1987, 1991 and 2000, fourth in 1996 and fifth in 2011.

Expected to represent UW-Oshkosh on Saturday are Jordan Carpenter, Kenny Halloran, Erik Hofferber, Derek Johnsrud, Sean Kutz, McKena Ramos and Ryne Scopp. Carpenter (264th place), Hofferber (211th place) and Kutz (34th place) all ran at the 2011 championship, the last time UW-Oshkosh qualified as a team. Hofferber also placed 223rd in 2010 and Kutz 178th in 2008.

In 2012, North Central College won its third national title in four years. The Cardinals totaled 167 points to defeat runner-up Calvin College, which compiled 188.

Saturday's 8,000-meter race begins at 12:30 p.m. (ET).