Weiler and Mahalsky set for trip to NCAA National Championship race Saturday

Saturday, November 22

Terre Haute, Ind.

12:00 p.m.

Lehigh University

NCAA National Championship

Weiler and Mahalsky set for trip to NCAA National Championship race Saturday

11/21/2014 9:32:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For the first time in school history, Lehigh will be sending a runner from both the men's and women's cross country teams to compete at the NCAA Division I Championship.

Senior Ryan Mahalsky will represent the men and junior Elizabeth Weiler will represent the women this Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind. Mahalsky is the third ever Lehigh man to qualify for regionals while Weiler is the second woman to qualify.

"It's always exciting to have a teammate to share the experience with," said Mahalsky. "Every year our is goal is to have our program make strides and do things we've never done before. To have a man and a woman qualify as individuals really shows our program is headed in the right direction. It's so nice to share this experience with someone who works just as hard as you do."

On the men's side, Edward Cheserek of Oregon took home the individual title at last year's NCAA Championship. Cheserek ran the 10K in 29:41 while Colorado University won the 2013 team title. Meanwhile, Lehigh senior Tyler Mueller competed in the championship race. Mueller placed in 67th, running the 10K in 31:07, which was good enough for Lehigh's best ever finish at the NCAA Championships.

Mahalsky placed fifth at this year's Mid-Atlantic Regional, the best individual finish in school history. In the process he earned an automatic bid to this weekend's championship, running the 10K in 30:22 while beating this year's Patriot League champion.

"I think it takes a lot of pressure off of Weiler and Mahalsky having another teammate there, to have someone going through the same situation as you," said men's head coach Todd Etters. "I honestly wasn't surprised at all when Mahalsky qualified for the NCAA Championship. We knew all along Ryan could do it and he had a really good race at regionals. It's nice to see him following in the footsteps of the other guys who have made the championships and it's nice to see Ryan live up to all of that."

On the women's side, Abbey D'Agostino of Dartmouth took home the individual title at last year's NCAA Championship, while Providence won the 2013 team title.

Weiler finished in sixth place at this year's Mid-Atlantic Regional, running the 6K in 20:38. The junior earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and will be the first woman from Lehigh to run the championship race since 2005.

"The fact that Ryan and Elizabeth get to travel out there together and get to have a little more Lehigh presence on the course will be a great thing for them," said women's head coach Debbie Utesch. "I'm very excited for Elizabeth; she's performed great and has been in the mix of top runners all year. It was so nice to see her cap her season off with a strong race at regionals and a ticket to Indiana. The pressure's off her now; she just needs to go out there and represent herself and Lehigh on the national stage and hopefully become one of the top 100 runners in the country."

Thirty one teams consisting of seven runners each along with an additional 38 runners, selected through automatic and at-large bids have qualified for each championship race. The championship races will be held at Indiana State University on the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center course with the women's race beginning at 12 p.m. and the men's at 1 p.m. A live webcast of the championship races can be viewed on NCAA.com and results will be posted on LehighSports.com after the conclusion of the events.