INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — 

Claire Semerod (Centennial, Colo.) and Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.) will be heading to Spartanburg, South Carolina, this upcoming weekend to represent the U.S. Coast Guard Academy cross country program at the NCAA Division III National Championships. The pair of team captains earned individual bids to the meet, which will be run at Milliken Research Park on Saturday, November 22nd.

32 teams are selected for Nationals, with ten on each side earning automatic qualification by winning their regional championship meets. The remaining 22 teams receive at-large bids based on their inter-regional results throughout the season. Once the team field is set, the top seven individual runners from each region who aren't members of a qualified team will be selected to compete.

"We're pretty disappointed to see the NCAA selection committee didn't pick the women's team for an at-large bid to the NCAA championships. Regardless, our women had a great season and this will be even more motivation to get back in contention for next year," said head coach Greg Ahnrud. "For now, Paul and Claire need to refocus on their own individual races and having the best performances they can in their final collegiate cross country meet."

Semerod nabbed the final All-American spot in last-year's race by winning a photo-finish for 40th overall, her first time earning the distinction. A banner string of races in the senior's final campaign has included a first-place finish at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships to earn the conference's Runner of the Year award and a ninth-place finish at the Mideast meet to finish her career as a four-time All-Region runner. Another finish of 40th or higher would make Semerod just the third multi-time All-American in program history.

Hobbs will join the four-time qualifier Semerod for his first career national championship appearance. He's had an excellent final season in his own right as the men's top finisher in each of their races, including fifth place at the NEWMAC Championship to earn All-Conference distinction and 28th place at the regional to earn All-Mideast. Hobbs' trip to Spartanburg will make him the first Coast Guard men's cross country runner to qualify for Nationals since program great Gary Ezzo '14 made the 2014 championship, while a 40th place finish would make him the fourth All-American on the men's side.

Milliken Research Park has hosted multiple conference, regional, and national championship meets throughout the years. Live results will be displayed on leonetiming.com, while a live stream of the event will be broadcast on the NCAA website. The men's race is scheduled for a 10:00 AM ET start, and the women's race will commence soon after at 11:00 AM.