The University of Minnesota Duluth will put the finishing touches on what it hopes will be an historic 2014 women's cross country season this Saturday (Dec. 6) at the NCAA II Championships in Louisville, Ky.

A total of 32 teams, including two-time defending champion Grand Valley State University and 2013 runnerup Adams State College, will line up at 12:15 p.m. (ET) for the 6K women's race at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. Grand Valley, Adams State and UMD ranked 1-2-3, respectively, in the latest United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
 

The Bulldogs, who are making their sixth NCAA II national meet appearance (2014, 2013, 2011, 2009, 2008 and 1994), will take seven runners to Louisville -- senior Alexandra Rudin, junior Hannah Olson, sophomores Breanna Colbenson and Samantha Rivard, the reigning USTFCCCA Central Region Athlete of the Year, and freshmen McKenzie Holt, Amber Seidenkranz and Emi Trost. Rudin has taken part in two previous NCAA II championships (2011 and 2013) while Olson, Colbensen and Rivard competed with the Bulldogs one year ago in Spokane, Wash., where UMD placed 10th and Rivard finished eighth individually en route to earning All-American honors.

A seventh-place finish in 2009 is the best showing UMD has ever turned at nationals and it's a mark which fifth-year head coach Joanna Warmington is aiming to eclipse.

"With the experience that our team has we have a definite shot of posting our highest finish ever," said Warmington, the 2014 USTFCCA Central Region Coach of the Year. "We ran against Grand Valley twice already this year and I feel this has given us an edge of how we should compete.  Grand Valley has been ranked No.1 in the country the whole season and they'll be tough to beat, but our runners are more confident and focused going into the race.  Anything can happen on a given day." 

Saturday's meet is part of the 2014 NCAA II National Championships Festival.  Louisville will also the site this weekend for the NCAA II field hockey soccer, and volleyball competitions. The Louisville Sports Commission and Bellarmine University will serve as co-hosts of the championships.



2014 NCAA II Cross Country Championship information