Eric Van Der Els Selected to Run at NCAA Cross Country Championship

Official NCAA Cross Country Championship Selections

STORRS, Conn. – The NCAA announced the team and individual qualifiers for the 2021 Cross Country Championship with UConn senior Eric Van Der Els (Norwalk, Conn.) earning a spot in this year's field.

The 2021 NCAA title race will take place on Monday, March 15 and will be hosted by Oklahoma State University, at the OSU Cross Country Course located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Thirty-one teams will make up the field while Van Der Els is one of 38 individuals selected to participate as well through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process.

Van Der Els is coming off a fourth-place finish at this weekend's BIG EAST Championship in Cary, N.C.  He earned All-BIG EAST honors while helping lead the Huskies to a fourth place finish.  Van Der Els had his best-ever time on an 8K course on Friday, clocking in at 23:17.4.

The two-time team captain had a break-out junior season in the fall of 2019 where he was an All-Northeast Region and All-American Athletic Conference finisher.  Van Der Els will be the first UConn men's cross country runner to qualify for a spot at NCAA's since Max Feldman ran his senior season at the 2006 NCAA title race.

The women's race will begin at 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by the men's race at 1:40 p.m. Eastern Time. NCAA country fans will have the opportunity to watch live coverage of the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships on ESPNU or the ESPN App. Live coverage of the NCAA Championships will be available starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.