POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 13, 2011) – Based on her performance at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships yesterday, where she placed 19th out of 256 runners with a 22:45 time, junior Kelly Holmes was named the 7th qualifier to compete in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, which will be held on November 19 at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Holmes, who becomes the fifth runner in school history to qualify for the national championships, was the 7th individual selected to compete at Nationals from the Atlantic Region, based on her individual finish and the selection of five teams from the region.

“Kelly earned this trip, and her coaches and teammates are tremendously proud of her,” said head coach James McCowan. “Since her freshman year, Kelly has proved she is one of the strongest runners in the Region. She has had a string of unfortunate races at previous Regional meets, but she stepped up ths year when we needed her too, and got out strong from the start. Kelly ran smart, and got the result she needed to help the team to a strong race and get herself to the National meet. While I know she wishes she was taking the trip to Oshkosh with her teammates, I am proud of her and happy to see Vassar represented at the National meet two years in a row.”

Holmes also met the NCAA Provisional standards in the 800 meters in Track last spring, and would have been selected to compete had she not left for her study abroad program in Copenhagen that week.

Holmes is a 2009 graduate of Ridgefield (CT) High School, where she earned four letters in cross country. She was named All-Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC) her junior year, and Second-Team All-FCIAC her sophomore and senior years. Holmes' high school team won FCIAC Championships twice, and was Connecticut class LL runner-up in 2006.

Previous Qualifiers
2010: Johanna Spangler, Elizabeth Forbes
2008: Johanna Spangler
1998: Clodagh Rafferty
1990: Tracy Nichols
1988: Tracy Nichols

The complete NCAA announcement can be found at this link.