As expected, Washington women receive at-large berth to next Saturday's NCAA cross country championships...

INDIANAPOLIS—As expected, the University of Washington women’s cross country team (above/photo by Paul Merca) was named by the NCAA as one of the 13 at-large entries to next Saturday’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships that will be contested at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

The Huskies, who entered Friday’s NCAA West Regional championships ranked #17 in the latest USTFCCCA national coaches’ poll, finished fourth in Sacramento with a score of 118 points, only behind automatic qualifiers Oregon and Boise State, and third place finisher Stanford.

Maurica Powell’s Husky women’s resume this season included a third place finish at its own Sundodger Invitational behind Boise State and Oregon State (which got into the national championships for the first time in school history after finishing sixth at regionals Friday); a third place finish at the Stanford Invitational behind Stanford and Division II Adams State; a fifth place finish in the White section of the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals behind four teams that advanced to nationals (New Mexico, Michigan, Stanford, and Notre Dame); and a fourth place finish at Pac-12s behind Oregon, Colorado, and Stanford.

The performances of both Washington State and Gonzaga at Friday’s regionals were not enough to sway the committee to select both men’s teams.

The #22 ranked Cougars, who were ranked early in the season as high as #12 in the country, finished seventh, while the Bulldogs, who entered the regionals ranked #28 in the country, finished ninth.

The NCAA committee only took five men’s teams from the West region:  automatic qualifiers Portland and Washington; and Boise State, Stanford, and Oregon.

Gonzaga freshman James Mwuara, who finished tenth in the regional championships, missed advancing to nationals as an individual by two positions, as the committee selected Arizona’s Carlos Villarreal (2nd), Loyola Marymount’s Koby Pederson (3rd), San Francisco’s Jack Rowe (5th), and Cal’s Garrett Corcoran (6th) as the region’s top individuals not part of a qualifying team.

Next Saturday’s NCAA championship race begins at 10:45 am local time (8:45 am in Seattle) with the women’s 6k, with the men’s 10k to follow an hour later.

The NCAA release is available here.

NOTE:  The NCAA contributed to this report.