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CALIFORNIA (Nov. 19) – The California University of Pennsylvania women's cross country program will be competing at the NCAA National Championships as a team qualifier for the first time in school history on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Joplin, Missouri, at 12 p.m. EST.

The race will be held on the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course, which is named after the former Missouri Southern track & field and cross country coach. The NCAA is providing live video and in-race results of the championships at the links above.

Led by USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year Daniel Caulfield, the Vulcans are making their first-ever team appearance at the NCAA National Championships after capturing their first NCAA Atlantic Regional title two weeks ago. Cal U is one of three nationally-ranked teams from the region competing at the event, as No. 22 Edinboro and No. 25 Shippensburg also were team qualifiers.

Junior Julie Friend (Markleysburg, Pa./Uniontown) and redshirt senior Alex Zanella (Everett, Pa./Everett) will be competing at the NCAA National Championships for the second time, as both were individual qualifiers in previous years (Zanella 2013, Friend 2014).

An All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Friend has been the team's top runner in all six events in which she has competed in this season, highlighted by top-five finishes at both the PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. She is the program's first runner in 30 years to earn All-PSAC status in consecutive years and registered the highest individual finish at the league championships since 1980.

Zanella has competed in four races this season and has placed among the top-10 overall in each race. A five-time PSAC Champion in track & field last year, Zanella competed at the NCAA National Championships in 2013 after finishing fourth overall at the regional championship.

Redshirt sophomore Summer Hill (Honesdale, Pa./Honesdale) finished third on the team at both the PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. In track & field, she qualified for the NCAA Championships in multiple events as a true freshman in 2014 before missing a whole year due to injury.

Freshman Alyson Pierce (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) and senior Alison Kimble (Morgantown, W.Va./University) have counted to the team score throughout the fall, including at both the PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships

Freshman Maddie Thrasher (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) and senior Shannon Marsteller (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bethel Park) will also be traveling to Missouri for the championships.