By 605 Sports Staff

LINCOLN, NE — Former Sioux Falls Lincoln standout and current University of Nebraska sophomore Ali Bainbridge received an at-large bid to Saturday’s NCAA Division I cross-country race that will run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

Bainbridge finished fifth in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, November 15 covering the 6,000-meter course in 19 minutes and :53 seconds. Bainbridge was one of four runners from the Midwest region that received an automatic bid to Saturday’s championship race. 

Bainbridge won the 2022 South Dakota Class AA cross-country race and is the first Nebraska runner since Erika Freyhof in 2021 to qualify for the NCAA finals. 

Bainbridge and teammate Bryanna McQuillen both earned All-Midwest Region honors.