The University of Minnesota cross country teams are eying hopefully Saturday's NCAA Division I Midwest Regional. Both squads enter the contest seeded as the #3 team in the national qualifying meet hosted by Northern Illinois University.The top two men's and women's teams in the event automatically qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 21. An additional 13 men's and women's teams nation-wide will receive at-large bids, to be announced by Sunday evening.
The Gopher men, ranked #21 nationally, would need to upset either #2-ranked Oklahoma State, the defending NCAA champs, or #5-ranked Oklahoma to earn an automatic birth to nationals. The Gopher men appear to be in good shape for an at-large bid, if they finish in the top-three at the meet.
Find the GopherSports men's preview and watch Gopher men's coach Steve Plasencia discuss his squad's prospects HERE.
Iowa State, the #10-ranked team in D1, is the women's favorite heading to DeKalb. The battle for the second automatic qualifying slot could be scrum between #24 Oklahoma State, #30 Minnesota, and un-ranked Iowa, which finished just nine points behind the Gophers at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago.
Find the GopherSports women's preview HERE.
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