Stanford University Athletics

STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford men's cross country team received an at-large bid Saturday to the NCAA Championships, as expected.

The men join the Cardinal women, who earned an automatic qualifying berth on Friday with their performance at the NCAA West Regionals. It extends Stanford's streak of 25 consecutive years that it has sent both its men's and women's teams to nationals, which will be held Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Stanford men were third at the West Regionals in Seattle, one spot away from qualifying automatically, but knew an at-large berth was a certainty based on a point system that rewards head-to-head results against automatic qualifiers and those in contention. Stanford won the Pac-12 championship Oct. 27 and are ranked No. 4 in the country.

There will be 31 teams in each of the men's and women's fields at nationals, which will be run at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. The top two finishers out of each of the nine regional qualifying races advanced automatically and 13 were selected at-large.

The Pac-12, regarded as the nation's strongest conference, is well-represented in both the men's and women's divisions. There are six Pac-12 qualifiers for the men and four for the women.

The women's race will begin at 7:45 a.m. PT (10:45 a.m. ET), followed by the men's at 8:45 a.m. PT (11:45 a.m. ET). A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast beginning at 6 a.m. PT until the conclusion of the awards ceremony on Flotrack.org.

This will be the 25th consecutive NCAA team appearance for the Stanford women – the longest streak in the nation -- and 30th overall. Stanford has won five NCAA women's titles (1996, 2003, 2005-07) and were fifth last year.

The Stanford men have advanced 24 consecutive years and 26 times overall. The Cardinal has won four men's team championships (1996-97, 2002-03) and was second last year.

Stanford's teams have had 70 All-Americans combine for 134 All-America honors in cross country. The teams have combined for 26 NCAA podium finishes and nine NCAA titles.