INDIANAPOLIS - Following her effort at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, sophomore Ari Fisher (Lebanon, OH) earned one of 38 individual bids into the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which take place Monday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, IN.

Fisher placed ninth overall in the Regional meet and was named to the All-Region team. She became just the MAC's 16th NCAA qualifier since 2000, seven of who ran for Toledo: Tuula Laitinen (2000), Briana Shook (2001-02), Sara Vergote (2002), Christine Tye (2003) and Dagmara Handzlik (2005).

"I am incredibly proud of Ari," head coach Kevin Hadsell said. "She has taken this past year and given a 100 percent commitment and it is all paying off. She has had a year that most women dream of. For her to go from never having made our varsity team to being the MAC Champion and an NCAA qualifier is an incredible achievement."

The top-40 finishers will be named to the All-American team. The MAC has only had three All-Americans in women's cross country since 2000, including Shook in 2002 when she finished 24th.

"If Ari runs a smart, tough race, I believe she has a chance at earning All-American honors," Hadsell said. "She has shown all year that she is capable of running with the top women in the country."

Indiana State University will host the Championships at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The men's race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m. Eastern time, followed by the women's race at approximately 12:58 p.m. Both championship races will be broadcast live on Versus Network and streamed online via NCAA.com.

Fisher has already competed once at the course, finishing 37th overall out of 249 runners at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Oct. 17. In addition to winning the MAC Championships, Fisher also placed first at the Colonial Inter-Regional Challenge (Sept. 26) and in Toledo's dual meet win over Bowling Green (Sept. 4).

Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu