UKXC’s Jacob Thomson Qualifies for NCAA Championships

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jacob Thomson was named an individual qualifier for the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

On Friday, Thomson led Kentucky to a ninth place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Thomson finished 10th individually with a personal-best (including track) 10,000-meter time of 29:34.80 at the Southeast Regional. 

By virtue of that result, the Louisville, Kentucky, native qualified to be part the elite field that will run in his hometown at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park next Saturday.

The top-four regional finishers not on advancing teams advanced individually to the NCAA Championships.

Thomson, a sophomore transfer, is the first Wildcat to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Cally Macumber in 2013. Luis Orta was the last UK men’s team member to qualify for NCAAs, in 2012, which was the last time the NCAA Championships were held in Louisville.

Thomson made the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2013, finishing 214th in 32:30.70.

Eighteen teams automatically qualified to the NCAA Championships by finishing as one of the top two teams at each of the nine regional races. The remaining 13 at-large teams were selected by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee tomorrow. 

The full NCAA field, as announced on Saturday, is available here.

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