Cottey will have three Comets at the  NAIA National Marathon Classic in Sacramento, CA on Sunday, 12/8. Taylor Rechenmacher, Avery Morris, and Kyndal Soukup have all qualified for the event on the West Coast. 

To qualify, they had to run over 480 miles in 12 weeks and submit 2-hour long runs to rank against other runners who were submitting their times for qualification consideration. Rechenmacher, Morris, and Soukup all surpassed the 480 mile threshold, and have continued their training well beyond that mark. The event will also see a team component, with 3 runners comprising a "scoring team." The Comets will be one of seven NAIA teams with enough individuals qualified to compete as a team. A team must have all three runners finish in order for the team score to count. 

The NAIA race runs in conjunction with the California International Marathon, which is the top Boston Marathon qualifying race and one of the top 10 biggest marathons in the US. It attracts some of the top talent in the world, which is exciting for the Comets to have the opportunity to test themselves on the same course as the best in the world. 

The event is set to begin at 7am local time (9am CT) on December 8th near the Folsom Dam. Runners can be tracked live during the race at: https://track.rtrt.me/e/CRRM-CIM-2024#/tracker