Both Western Washington squads, Seattle Pacific women, and Central's Alexa Shindruk obtain NCAA D2 at-large berths...

INDIANAPOLIS—Both Western Washington cross country teams and the Seattle Pacific women’s squad were selected by the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s cross country committee as at-large teams to compete in the national championships on December 1st in Pittsburgh at the Bob O’Conner Golf Course.

In addition, Central Washington’s Alexa Shindruk (left/photo by Paul Merca), who finished eighth at the West Regionals in Billings, Montana, was selected as one of two at-large individuals from the regional championships to compete at the national championships.

Shindruk, who qualified for the NCAA championships on the track in the 10000 last spring, joins teammate Nicole Soleim, who finished fifth at the regional championship race, and earned one of the two auto qualifying spots for individuals whose teams didn’t qualify.

After finishing fifth in the NCAA D2 West Regional Championship on Saturday in Billings, Montana, the Viking men are returning to the national championship meet for the first time since a streak of eight consecutive seasons from 2007-14.

The women also finished fifth at the NCAA D2 regional and return to nationals for the first time since a 6th-place finish in 2015.

"We are thrilled to be going to Pittsburgh as this is a very deserving honor for both of our teams," said WWU head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "They've worked extremely hard all season with this goal in mind, and they had great performances throughout the season to make this happen. It's going to be a great experience for these student-athletes and I know they are ready to race even faster than they did at the regional meet."

For the Falcons, this marks the 18th NCAA meet for Seattle Pacific, and its first national appearance since 2015.

"It's a huge accomplishment, a massive accomplishment for this program," SPU assistant coach Chris Reed said. "We had a really good senior class that graduated back in June, and then had an unexpected transfer over the summer. So on paper, with no seniors, we thought it would be a real good season, but maybe not necessarily the kind of year we've had so far.”

The USTFCCCA/NCAA release is available here.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of Central Washington, Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, along with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the USTFCCCA, and the NCAA contributed to this report.