INDIANAPOLIS - Westminster College women's cross country runner Saydi Anderson became the first student-athlete in the program's history to qualify for the NCAA Championships as she earned an at-large bid to compete in the 2021 NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships on Nov. 20, in Saint Leo, Florida, as announced by the NCAA earlier this week.

Anderson, who finished 10th overall at last weekend's NCAA South Central Region meet, became the first runner in school history to reach the NCAA Cross Country Championships when she was one of 24 individuals to chosen after the field of 34, seven-person teams were set.  She was one of two South Central Region runners to receive an individual bid after Colorado Christian, Colorado School of Mines, UC-Colorado Springs, CSU Pueblo, and Dallas Baptist, all qualified as teams.

The top three, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regions, for a total of 24 teams. Ten additional teams were selected at-large. A minimum of 24 additional individuals were selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process.

Anderson's 21:13.50 6k time was the fastest individual time at the NCAA South Central Regional meet in program history as she helped Westminster women's cross country finish in 10th-place as a team, the highest team finish in school history, this past Saturday morning at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas.

A native of Rupert, Idaho, Anderson was also named RMAC Academic All-Conference last week and was named RMAC Runner of the Week after finishing third overall with a 17:50.21 5k at the FHSU Tiger Open back on Oct. 9.

The 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held Sat., Nov. 20, in Saint Leo, Fla., at The Abbey Course.  The women's race will begin at 630 a.m. (MDT) and can be viewed online at NCAA.com.

Follow us on social media (@WCGriffins) or visit westminstergriffins.com for all the latest Westminster Athletics scores, news and updates.