11th-ranked UW-La Crosse women’s cross country team gets set for National Championships on Saturday

The 11th-ranked UW-La Crosse women’s cross country team is getting set to compete in the NCAA Division III championships Saturday.

Four — Maddie Hannan, Maddy Vantassel, Jenna Lovejoy and Madelynn McIntyre — competed in last year’s finale for the Eagles, who have qualified for the championships 36 times, winning the National Title twice (1982, ’83). For Vantassel, this will be her third appearance.

The championships begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing, Mich.

Also representing UW-L are Julia Anderson, Kimberly Carviou, Charlotte Mueller, Sierra Rabe, Katelyn Chadwick and Mackenzie Hill.

This is the Eagles 36th National Championship appearance — finishing in the Top 4 eight times — but first since 2018.

Eleven runners in UW-L history have finished in the Top 10. Tori Neubauer won back-to-back individual titles and led UW-L to National Championships in 1982 and ’83.

UWL earned an automatic bid to the National Championships with a second-place finish at the DIII North Regional back on Nov. 12 at the St. Olaf College (Minn.).

TOP PHOTO: The UW-La Crosse women’s cross country team, seen here in a team huddle, qualfied for the NCAA DIII National Championships. (PHOTO: Jim Lund, UWLAthletics.com)