CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Anderson University women's cross country team has qualified for the NCAA National Championships for the fourth time in the last five years, coming in second place with a team score of 88 and a team time of 1:53:51.35.

Anderson finished in a tie with 88 points with Catawba, clinching the tiebreaker advantage as runners three through five (Martin, Golden, and Nelson) finished ahead of Catawba's three through five runners.

Whitney Hanson led the way for the Trojans by coming in sixth place with a time of 22:21.55 in the 6k. Elise Matthews (22:35.69) and Jodi Ann Martin (22:42.29) finished close together for 13th and 16th place. Emily Golden (23:00.75), Faith Nelson (23:11.08), and Emma Whitaker (23:18.37) ran well in a pack to take 25th, 28th, and 33rd. Aubrey Quillen rounded things out for Anderson with a mark of 25:21.85.

"Going into the meet, the women were in a pretty good spot to move onto the NCAA Nationals, but we knew we had to go out there today and execute," said coach Kevin Eagle. "Each runner stepped up to the challenge and we were able to walk away with a second place team finish, which is tied for the highest finish in program history!"

The women were coming off a second-place finish in the South Atlantic Conference Championships with a team time of 1:55.42 and a score of 53 in the 6k. Whitney Hanson, Jodi Ann Martin, Elise Matthews, Emily Golden, and Faith Nelson were named to the All-SAC Second Team. Emma Whitaker and Sarah Rudolph were both selected to the All-Freshmen Team, while Aubrey Quillen won the Elite 23 award.

The NCAA National Championships are set for Friday, December 2nd in Seattle, Washington. More information can be found at autrojans.com as the meet approaches.