Robert Abrams earned a berth in the NCAA Division 3 cross country nationals Saturday with a 9th-place finish in the Atlantic Regional Championships.
Abrams, a College of New Jersey junior from Cherry Hill West, placed ninth in the 8,000-meter race at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., running 25:30 in very cold windy conditions.
The top seven finishers not on one of the two automatically qualifying teams automatically qualify for nationals. SUNY Geneseo and RPI placed first and second, and Abrams was the second individual finisher not from one of those schools.
Abrams finished just 17 seconds behind overall winner Noah Falasco of RPI and only three seconds out of sixth place. He was first among NJAC runners and actually the only NJAC runner who finished in the top 24.
The NCAA Division 3 National Championships are scheduled for Nov. 23 at E.O. Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
Abrams placed 94th at Regionals as a freshman and 82nd last year. This will be his first trip to the NCAA Championships in track or cross country.
