Live Results | Video
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Four American Athletic Conference runners will make the trek to Louisville, Ky., for the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships this Saturday, November 18. Houston senior Brian Barraza, SMU sophomore Hannah Miller, Tulane junior Emmanuel Rotich and Tulsa senior Henry Pearce will each be competing for a national title this weekend at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park.
In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals qualified at their respective NCAA regional competitions. The top-two teams and top-four individuals from each regional earned automatic bids to the championships. Thirteen additional teams and 38 more individuals who finished in the top-25 of their respective regionals were selected at-large. This year's meet will be
streamed live on FloTrack with coverage scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET. Follow the live action on
NCAA.com. The women’s race will begin at 10:45 a.m. ET, followed by the men’s race at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Rotich and Barraza placed first and second, respectively in the South Central Regional race to earn automatic bids, while Miller and Pearce qualified through the at-large selection process.
Emmanuel Rotich, Tulane, Jr. (Sotik, Republic of Kenya)
Rotich will look to cap a spectacular season this weekend, as the junior won five consecutive meets, dating to the Temple Invitational, Sept. 1 in Philadelphia. Rotich defended his NCAA Regional title and was named the USTFCCCA South Central Region Athlete of the Year for the second straight season after claiming first place in the men’s 10k with a time of 29:49.1 to qualify for this weekend’s NCAA Championships. Rotich maintained a pace of 4:47 per mile, setting personal best and school record in the 10k and breaking the 10k course record at Texas A&M’s Watts Cross Country Course in the process.
Rotich was also crowned the men’s American Athletic Conference individual champion after clocking an 8k time of 24:58.6 at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia on Oct. 28. Earlier this year, he placed first in the Adidas Pre-National Cross Country Meet at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park with a time of 23:47.1. This will be Rotich’s second career appearance in the NCAA Championships.
Brian Barraza, Houston, R-Sr. (El Paso, Texas)
Barraza will return to the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career. He finished second in the NCAA South Central Regional race on the heels of Rotich with a time of 29:51.5. In 2015, he won the South Central Regional to earn the USTFCCCA Athlete of the Year honor for that region. Barraza also was the runner-up in this year’s conference championship race, earning his fourth all-conference nod. The Houston senior also had a strong performance in Louisville earlier this season when he crossed the line in a 10th place finish in 23:22.1 at the Pre-National Meet. Barraza earned two American Athlete of the Week honors this season.
Hannah Miller, SMU, So. (Invercargill, New Zealand)
Miller set a school record at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, leading SMU to a fourth-place finish, while taking seventh place individually in the 6k with a time of 19:50.7. She earned an at-large bid to her second straight NCAA Championships appearance. Miller has led the Mustangs in three-consecutive races this year and was The American individual champion.
Henry Pearce, Tulsa, R-Sr. (Loughborough, England)
Pearce was the top finisher for the Golden Hurricane at the NCAA Midwest Regional, taking eighth place with a personal-best 10k time of 29:18.43 to earn an at-large bid to the national championship. Pearce will run in the NCAA Championship for the second time in his career after competing last year when Tulsa finished 11th in the team standings. Pearce has been instrumental in his team’s success this year, helping the Golden Hurricane to its fourth-straight American title with a ninth-place finish in the conference championship race. Tulsa was one spot away from automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championship, finishing third in its regional race.