INDINAPOLIS, Ind.  -  After placing eighth in Saturday's NCAA DIII Mideast Regional race, the Coast Guard Academy women's cross country team had to wait until Sunday afternoon to find out they had earned an at-large bid to the 2024 DIII National Championship.

A total of thirty-two teams will be competing in the upcoming race, with the top seven-person team from each region earning an automatic qualification and the remaining 22 being selected at-large.

A season of strong performances saw the Bears' runners ranked nationally for the majority of it and finish as the eighth-ranked team in the USTFCCCA's Mideast region, the highest of any NEWMAC team. It will be the second-straight season the Bears have qualified for the championship race as a team after securing an at-large bid last year and placing 25th.

Coast Guard was just one of two NEWMAC teams to secure an invite to the meet after MIT, the top-ranked team in the country, secured an auto bid by finishing their season at the top of the East region. The Bears will also compete against their rivals down the road, Connecticut College, who are currently ranked 25th nationally and earned an at-large bid as the sixth-ranked team in the Mideast.

The NCAA DIII National Championship race will be hosted by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, taking place this upcoming Friday, November 23rd, at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women's race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.