LIVE BROADCAST | LIVE RESULTS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's cross country team and women's freshman of the year runner,
Anabel Knoll, are in Joplin, Missouri to race at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course for the 2015 NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday. The Sharks look to continue breaking institutional records as well as individual personal records as they have throughout the 2015 fall season.
After completing a job well done in the NCAA Division II South Regional Championships, the Sharks have had time to prepare for the ultimate race of the season. According to the NCAA rankings and this season's overlook some of the top schools to look out for are Adams State of the South Central region and renowned Grand Valley State from the Midwest.
Head coach,
Bryan Hagopian said, "It was heartbreaking for the men's team to have finish in third place at the regional tournament when they believe they had much more to show. This year's National Championship races will help us compare the teams that advanced to the national tournament in 2012 to the current teams' performance."
Knoll (Fr., Ingolstadt, Germany), who advanced as an individual into the national meet after claiming the Sunshine State Conference FOTY award, is a potential candidate to make history for NSU at a national level. The live broadcast of the women's 6K race, provided by the NCAA, will start at 11:00 a.m. "I feel Anabel is going to do great and she will step up to the national level, by possibly finishing in the top 14 of the competition. I also have a gut feeling she will break NSU's best 6K time of 21:50, which is currently help by Alexandria Palm. It makes me happy to know that she has a big chance of becoming an All-American cross country runner during her freshman year.", added Hagopian.
The Sharks men's team is in their best form and will be shooting off their 10K race at 12:15 p.m., with the broadcast also available through the official NCAA website. The men have multiple strong runners that have already proven their speed in a 10K course. The most notable and consistent in long distance races are
Christian Oppel (Sr., Lautertal, Germany),
Wade White (Jr., Bangor, Pa.),
Thomas Ingalls (Jr., St. George, Utah) and
Long Tran (Sr., Saigon, Vietnam). Also important to mention are
Benjamin Manuel (Jr., Willemstad, Curacao) and
Ian McQuate (So., Keaau, Hawaii), who have contributed tremendously to the team's success throughout the whole 2015 fall season.
When asked about the men's team expectations, Hagopian said: "They are feeling ready to prove their best in the national tournament. Although they feel calm and relaxed as they approach the championship, it is a good feeling to know they are well prepared and have the right mindset to compete at this level. I also feel like they could potentially finish in the top 25, if not the top 20 overall."
Stay updated with the final results of each race via NSUSharks.com, and also see the attached link above for live broadcast and live timing of each race.
