MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Minnesota State Moorhead cross country looks to punch a ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championships this weekend as part of the NCAA Central Region Championships. Action from Joplin, Mo., begins with the women's 8k race at 10 a.m. followed by the men's 10k at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, November 8. 

Live results will be available at msumdragons.com. Moorhead last competed at the NSIC Cross Country Championships which saw the Dragons men place second as a team with the MSUM women placing 11th. 

Year Of The Jaguar...At the NSIC Cross Country Championships on October 24, redshirt sophomore Jared Gregoire captured his first NSIC cross country individual championship after winning the men's 8k race. Gregoire marked a finishing time of 24:58 as the Buffalo, Minn., native was the lone competitor to clock a sub-25 minute mark. Gregoire is the first individual conference cross country champion for MSUM since Dane Moreland in 2005. Thanks to his effort, Gregoire earned All-NSIC and NSIC Men's Athlete of the Year honors. 

Raising Kate...Junior Katelyn Kennedy was MSUM's top finisher at the NSIC Cross Country Championships, narrowly missing All-NSIC distinction with a 22nd-place finish. Kennedy marked a new 6k season best time of 23:07.8 in the race.

More Dragons Earn All-NSIC...Not far behind Gregoire in the men's race was Chase Hoechst, who earned fourth-place marks and All-NSIC First Team distinction. Hoechst, the NSIC Preseason Athlete of the Year, clocked a finishing time of 25:11.7. Sophomore Salman Mohamed also clinched his first all-conference bid, finishing 20th overall to earn All-NSIC Second Team honors. Mohamed clocked a time of 26:12.2 to snag the nod. 

Setting A Standard...MSUM had a host of athletes set season or personal bests at the NSIC Cross Country Championships. Madison Kepner would be the second MSUM finisher in the women's race, marking a 6k time of 24:47, a new personal best. Kaela Traugott would clock a season best 25:15.9 for the Dragons as well. Lezah Dean would round out the Dragons scoring with a time of 26:22, a new personal best. Freshman Eden Andres would set a new personal best with a time of 27:58.2. 

The Selection Process...A variety of outcomes can qualify a student-athlete for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which take place on Saturday, November 22 in Kenosha, Wis. From a team standpoint, the top three teams from each regional meet will automatically advance. Ten at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee using specified criteria that includes regional performance, head to head performance and regional point gap ratio. Individually, after the 34 selected teams have been determined, a minimum 24 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships. The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship (16 individuals). All individuals who finish in the top five at the regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team automatically will advance to the championship. A similar at-large process will occur to determine the final eight individuals who qualify. 

Ryan Milner is in his ninth season as MSUM's head cross country coach.