Bainbridge Earns At-Large Selection to 2026 NCAA Championships

Nebraska senior Ali Bainbridge was named an at-large selection for the 2026 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon.

A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Bainbridge will compete on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Bainbridge led the Husker women with a 10th-place finish in the 6k at yesterday’s NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, Iowa, with a time of 19:36.4. She became the first Husker since Lara Crawford (2007, 2008, 2010) to post multiple top-10 finishes at NCAA Regionals in her career.

She will make her second appearance in the NCAA Championships after competing in the 2024 NCAA Championships in Madison, Wis. Bainbridge is the first Husker to compete in multiple NCAA Championships since Erika Freyhof in 2020 and 2021.