The Phoenix sophomore made history as the first female Elon runner to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships.
Sophomore Maria Ahm of the Elon University women’s cross country team became the first runner from the program to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships as the field for the national meet was announced on Sunday, March 7.
Ahm was one of 38 individuals selected to participate for the field through an automatic qualifier and an at-large selection process for the NCAA Championships on Monday, March 15, in Stillwater, Okla. Ahm becomes the second Phoenix cross country overall between the men’s and women’s teams to qualify for the NCAA national meet, joining Luis Vargas in 2014.
The Holbæk, Denmark, native won the Colonial Athletic Association individual title at the league’s championship meet last Friday, March 5, setting a CAA championship record in the 6K with her time of 19:37.30. That performance helped the Phoenix claim the CAA title for the second straight season while Ahm also became the third straight runner from the program to win the league’s individual medalist honor.
Information on the NCAA Championships
Oklahoma State University will host the championships, at the OSU Cross Country Course located in Stillwater, Okla. The women’s race will begin at 12:50 p.m. ET, followed by the men’s race at 1:40 p.m. ET. Teams will have a travel party size of 12 people and can invite a total of 24 guests, while individuals who qualify for the championships will have a travel party size of three people and can invite a total of six guests. There will be no public ticket sales for the event.
NCAA cross country fans will have the opportunity to watch live coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on ESPNU or the ESPN App. Live coverage of the NCAA Championships will be available starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.