WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University cross country teams will each have a representative at the 2016 NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held next Saturday, November 19, in Louisville, Kentucky. Sophomore Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) will run for the women, while Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) has qualified for the men. The two earned their spots as one of the top seven runners in New England who were not on a qualifying team,
Bryson will be making her second appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and her third NCAA berth overall. She finished 15th overall and claimed the 5th individual spot from New England. Bryson ran the 6K course in 21:44. Last year in OshKosh, Wisconsin, Bryson finished 31st overall at nationals to become the first freshman in school history to win All-America honors in women's cross country.
Stender, whose previous NCAA experience came at the 2016 Indoor Track and Field Championships, placed 11th on Saturday at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass., to earn the 6th individual spot from New England. Stender covered the 8K course in 25:00.91. He becomes the first Brandeis male to reach the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 2010, when the Judges last qualified as a team. He is looking to become Brandeis's first men's cross country All-American since 2009.
The Championships will be hosted by Spalding University.