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Akbar Qualifies For NCAA Cross Country Championships
AU senior first woman ever to advance to nationals

Samia Akbar qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks)

November 16, 2002 | Meet Results

DAVIS, W. VA. — American University senior Samia Akbar (Herndon, Va./Oakton) became the first Eagle woman ever to advance individually to the NCAA Cross Country Championships by placing fifth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional held in Davis, West Virginia.

After winning the Patriot League Cross Country meet a week ago, Akbar ran 21:03.1 for the 6000-meter race to edge Maureen McCandless of Pittsburgh by .4 seconds to earn the final automatic individual spot for the region. Akbar is the fourth individual finisher in the region which guarantees her a trip to the NCAA Championships held on Nov. 25th in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Also running for the AU women at the regional meet was junior Jen Baclawski (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) who placed 22nd, running 21:44.8. Baclawski improved on her 30th place finish last season. Freshman Keira Carlstrom (Oakton, Va./Oakton) placed 28th in 22:08.2.

Akbar has had an incredible season for AU. She was the Patriot League Runner of the Meet at the Patriot League Championships as the women’s cross country team captured the team title. Akbar has been named ECAC Performer of the Week three times as well as Patriot League Runner of the Week three times. Her fifth place finish earns her All-Region honors for the second consecutive season.

American University, which fields a 19-sport NCAA Division I athletics program featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men, is in its second year of membership in the Patriot League. Since joining the Patriot League, the University has captured league championships in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball, and regular-season titles in men’s basketball and women’s lacrosse.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1893, American University features students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 nations worldwide.