Camels qualify for NCAAs
Women’s Cross Country team to make first NCAA Championship appearance
For the first time in program history, the Connecticut College women’s cross country team has qualified to participate in the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships.
While the Camels have had multiple individuals qualify for the event over the years, the 2023 championship will mark their first-ever appearance as a team. Head Coach Ned Bishop most recently led his squad to a third-place finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional, the program’s best-ever regional finish. Conn’s top-five runners—Alsacia Timmerman ’26, Edin Sisson ’24, Abigail Fernald ’26, Lauren Hino ’24 and Abigail Williams ’27—earned All-Region honors by virtue of top-35 individual finishes.
In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals had to qualify in their respective NCAA regional competitions that were 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, for a total of 10 teams. Twenty-two additional teams were selected at-large. The Camels were one of six teams from the Mideast Region to earn an at-large bid.
Seventy individuals, the first seven student-athletes from each region who are not part of a qualifying team, were also selected to participate in each championship.
From the Connecticut College men’s cross country team, Brendan Mellitt ’24 qualified as an individual and will compete in the NCAA Championship men’s race for the first time in his career. Mellitt earned his spot by finishing 20th at the NCAA Mideast Regional with a career-best 8K time of 24:50.4.
Dickinson College is hosting the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18 at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania. The men’s race will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern, followed by the women’s race at noon.
The championships will stream live on www.NCAA.com beginning at 11 a.m. on Nov. 18.
