For the first time since 2012, Kent State will be represented at the NCAA cross country championships Saturday.

Sophomore Baidy Ba qualified for the championships with a program-record-breaking 30:07.0 in the 10k race at the NCAA Great lakes Regional Nov. 11. He finished in seventh place.

He outran Jim Loveless, who had held the program record for 21 years.

Ba placed seventh in the Mid-American Conference championships and was the fastest runner from Kent State in two meets this season. He placed the highest in the team’s first meet of the season, finishing third in the 5k with 15:21.

The men’s team took 14th place in regional, and the women’s team finished in 23rd. Junior Joe Farley was the second-best KSU runner with a 47-place time of 31:04.

The championships will be hosted at Oklahoma State Saturday. The men’s 10k race starts at 11:10 a.m. EST.

Brady Hamilton is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].