Nov. 18, 2002

LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior distance standout Jessica Zarndt (Las Vegas) has qualified for the 2002 Division I Women's Cross Country Championships as announced Monday by the NCAA selection committee.

Zarndt becomes only the third cross country runner in school history to qualify for nationals. Former Rebel Angie Fortner qualified as an individual in 1998, followed by fellow alum Katie Barto in 2000.

Zarndt, a local product out of Cheyenne High School, placed 15th (21:57.00) at the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 16, to earn an automatic qualification for nationals.

"Jessica has worked so hard the last four years to get to this point and we are proud of her accomplishment," UNLV assistant coach Angie (Fortner) Bestwick said. "This is a huge step for our distance program as we continue to rebuild and get back to competing on the national level."

Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large.

Thirty-eight individuals, the first four from each region and two additional qualifiers, were selected to participate in each championship. All individual qualifiers finished in the top 25 in their region.

The national meet will be held on Monday, Nov. 25 at the Wabash Family Sports Center on the campus of host Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. The women's race will begin at 9 a.m. (PST).