INDIANAPOLIS – The Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team has officially qualified for the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships, the NCAA announced on Monday afternoon. This comes after the Nanooks took fourth place at the NCAA Regionals last Saturday, finishing with 154 points and an average finishing time of 21:24.07.

The Nanooks will compete as a team at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 13 seasons when they took 17th at the 2011 DII Women's Cross Country Championships.

The duo of Rosie Fordham and Kendall Kramer continued to impress at the West Regionals, finishing 1-2 in the 6k. Fordham took the individual title for the first time in her career, and her finishing time of 19:52.68 was the fastest ever by a GNAC runner at a regional meet. Following her GNAC championship win earlier this season, Kramer finished right behind Fordham with a 20:06.84, marking her fourth top-five finish at the NCAA Regionals in her collegiate career and earning her DII All-West Region accolades. They were joined by Tabitha Williams, who's 25th-place finish also gave her All-West Region honors.

Last season, Kramer was the GNAC's top finisher at the NCAA Championships, finishing in 23rd place with a 20:31.2 and garnering All-American honors. Fordham joined her in 36th with a 20:40.3 to net her an All-American selection.

The DII cross country championships will be held at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, November 23, with the women's race starting at 10:15 a.m. AKST.

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