THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s cross country is prepped and ready for the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships. Decided upon by this year’s selection committee, the 31 best male and female teams in the country will compete at nationals. This year’s championships are being held at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla., on March 15.
In accordance with COVID-19 protocols, spectators will not be permitted to attend the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Championships Monday is slotted to kick off at 11:50 a.m. (CST), when the gun sounds for the women’s championship 6K race. Here’s the full list of teams and participants selected.
Live championship coverage will be available on ESPNU and the ESPN App beginning at 11:30 a.m. (CST). The broadcast will be available here. Live results, including splits at every 1000-meter mark, will be available here.
A complete course map of the women’s 6K championship route can be found here. The course starts out with an 850-meter straightaway — a gradual downhill into a gradual uphill — which effectively divides the course in two (the women will not do the same loop as the men). The course consists of just under one million square feet of Astro Bermuda grass.
The Yellow Jackets were ranked as the No. 15 women’s program in the country according to the most recent USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll. Eight student-athletes will represent the Gold & White in Stillwater. The Jackets sport a roster that features three all-ACC runners – the most in a single season in school history.
During the fall season Nicole Fegans led the way as the Jackets low-stick, while juniors Liz Galarza & Mary Kathryn Knott have stepped up in the two and three spots with consistent races throughout the year. The depth of Techs’ lineup includes senior Mary Claire Solomon, juniors Claire Mortiz & Liz Rice, as well as two true freshmen in Katy Earwood & Kenzie Walls.
The Jackets finished in the top three on the team leaderboards in all four of their races in 2020. They started the year off with a first-place finish at the Mountain Dew Invitational, took third in a stacked field at the FSU Invitational, earned second behind No. 1 ranked Arkansas at the UAB Blazer Classic and capped the year off with a historic ACC finish that saw three runners earn all-ACC honors.
2018 was the last time Tech qualified for nationals. Monday’s race will mark the fourth time the Yellow Jacket women have made it to nationals.
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