The Whittier College Men's Cross Country team has qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships for the first time in the program's history, and a female Poet will return to the competition for the second time in her career.
The Poets are already preparing for the competition, which is scheduled for this Saturday, November 19, at Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky.
The men's team qualified after strong showings at the Division III West Regional this past Saturday in Salem, Oregon.
Although the team's fourth place finish at the regionals is not an automatic qualifying position,the NCAA selection committee took note of a lot of favorable criteria for the Poets and qualified them for the nationals.
"The email notification arrived Sunday morning after we returned to campus, and I think our exuberance woke a lot of sleepy dorm dwellers," said cross country coach Greg Phillips.
Julissa Tobias '18 from Norwalk, California, also made the nationals after placing 7th overall. Her team concluded their season as an NCAA ranked team, the 13th time they have done so since 1988.
"Our women competed as true warriors on a wet and wild course," Phillips said.
To read more about men's cross country performance at the regionals, click here. To read more about the women's cross country showings, click here.
