Colorado State University Athletics
Rams' Hemphill, Rastall selected for NCAA cross country championships
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 20, 2009
By Andrew Woerpel
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The CSU women’s cross country team has qualified two runners to compete as individuals in the NCAA championships, Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.
Senior Kristen Hemphill, who placed 10th in the Mountain Region with a time of 21 minutes, 16.30 seconds, will make her third overall appearance at nationals. CSU teammate Ellie Rastall, a sophomore, will compete in her second consecutive NCAA meet after finishing 13th in the regional competition with a time of 21:19.40. This marks the fourth consecutive year that CSU will be represented in the women’s national race.
"I think it is a good way for Kristen to end her cross country career,” Head Coach Bryan Berryhill said. "This is where I thought she would be this year, so I think it is important to her that she got there.
"Ellie is going to be a great leader on next year’s team for us,” Berryhill said. "For Ellie to say that she has been there twice will be huge for the team. I know that for her, getting to nationals as a team is just as important as her getting there as an individual. I’m hoping that she can get that experience and share that with the team next year to get us all there.”
Berryhill fully expects Hemphill and Rastall to perform well and show the nation the fruits of their character, hard work and fortitude.
"I think they will perform well,” Berryhill said. “We are going to go out there with the intentions to hopefully bring one of them, if not both of them, back as an All-American.”
The NCAA selects 31 teams for each of the men’s and women’s national meets, automatically qualifying the top two teams from each of the nine regionals. Thirteen additional teams receive at-large invitations. And, 38 individuals were selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process. All individual qualifiers had to finish in the top 25 in their respective regions to be eligible for selection.
Four Mountain West Conference teams were also selected to represent the conference at the NCAA meet, the men’s and women’s teams from both BYU and New Mexico. Air Force’s Justin Tyner was also selected to represent the MWC as an individual.
The men’s race will begin at approximately 10:08 a.m. MST, followed by the women’s race at approximately 10:58 a.m. Both championship races will be telecast live on VERSUS and streamed online via NCAA.com.