INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Following a historical performance put on by both Washington & Jefferson College cross country teams at NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Saturday (Nov. 16), the NCAA revealed the NCAA National Championship qualifying runners. The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Committee announced Sunday (Nov. 17), that W&J student-athletes Claire Anderson (Jamestown, Pa./Jamestown), Dominic Flitcraft (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell), and Brock Pennington (North East, Pa./North East) earned spots in the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship meets.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is hosting the championships Nov. 23 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women's race will begin at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, followed by the men's race at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.

Anderson displayed the best performance recorded by a runner in W&J history at this season's NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional, finishing as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion. Anderson broke the all-time record for the fastest time in the women's 6k at W&J with a 21:04.9 mark. The former record was previously held by Kristen Galligan who raced to a 21:09.3 mark in 2012.
 
Anderson is also the first women's runner in W&J history to claim an NCAA Cross Country Regional Title. This marks the second runner overall at W&J to claim a regional title since Harley Moyer of the 2018 men's cross country team.

"Claire has had a very successful career at W&J and has always shown that potential to be great," stated Head Coach Andy Upton. "However, over this past cross country season she has really matured as an athlete and has been way more consistent getting stronger with each race both physically and mentally throughout the season. Saturday (Nov. 16) she ran the perfect race and showed everybody else in the country what she is truly capable of."

This will mark Anderson's fourth total trip to an NCAA National event. At NCAA Cross Country Championships last season, Anderson finished in 107th place in the 292-runner field with a time of 22:35.0.

Flitcraft headed the men's efforts at the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional with a top-10 finish and personal-best mark of 24:44.5. His 10^th-place mark shifted him to second all-time for the fastest times recorded in the men's 8k at W&J. Second all-time was previously held by Harley Moyer of the 2018 men's team.

"Dom is one of the most competitive people I've ever met. I don't think he's ever ran in a race that he didn't think he could win," said Upton. "He has been thinking about this moment since he first stepped on campus. As a freshmen, Dom attended all three National Meets last year as a fan in support of his teammates who qualified just so he could take it all in and learn from it. After a phenomenal sophomore season, it's his turn to spike up."

Following close behind was Pennington, finishing 16^th with a personal-best time of 24:55.4. Pennington now slots in as the third-fastest runner in W&J history with his afternoon time.

"Brock is one of the biggest students of the sport I've ever been around. Also an extremely talented runner who has done nothing but talk about getting to this meet since last cross country season ended," replied Upton. "Along the way he suffered multiple injuries but it never slowed his desire. With his back against the wall in his final race, he ran a very gutsy race where he would not be denied and had a huge PR to take the last spot in the region."

This marks the first time each have made an NCAA National Championship and the first W&J men's cross country runner to make it to the national tournament since Harley Moyer and Grant McCarthy of the 2018 team.

In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals had to qualify in their respective NCAA regional competitions held this weekend.

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in each championship.  The top seven-person team automatically qualified from each of the 10 regions. Twenty-two additional teams were selected at-large.

Seventy individuals, the first seven student-athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team, were selected to participate in each championship.

"I couldn't be happier for these three individuals. They are three of the most competitive people you will ever meet but in the same breath three of nicest people you will ever meet," stated Upton. "They have always been team first people who have always cared about their impact there first before ever thinking about individual success. So to see all three of them put this together on the same day is extremely special to me as a coach and I'm very proud of them. They have all had great seasons and I'm glad they all earned one more opportunity to go compete with the best runners in the country."

A live web stream of the championships will occur on NCAA.com beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time until the conclusion of the awards ceremony.