CLINTON, Iowa - Ashford University men's cross country standout Andrew Drinkall of Hooppole, Ill., has never been in a plane before.

In fact, the furthest west he's traveled is Nebraska.

Tomorrow morning he gets a chance to expand his horizons on his first-ever flight, albeit an early one leaving around 4:30 a.m., one of the final stages winding down towards the NAIA Cross Country Championships in Fort Vancouver, Wash., on Saturday.

"I've always wanted to fly," an awestruck Drinkall said. "I haven't mentioned to (Head) Coach (Tyson) Graham that I want a window seat yet."

Drinkall and Graham are projected to arrive in Fort Vancouver around 2:30 p.m. with a running session scheduled at 4 p.m. They will survey the course on Friday morning before going over a gameplan for Saturday's meet.

The men's race will feature roughly 300 participants, including 32 conference championship teams, 22 conference/independent/unaffiliated champions, eight at-large bids, one conference runner-up, one host berth and 102 individual qualifiers.

The event will take place at the Fort Vancouver Historical Site hosted by the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Concordia University (Ore.).

"I keep reading about these European-style rolling hills," Drinkall said. "I have no idea what that means, but I'll find out about them once I get there. My goal is to go out there, have fun and finish in the top half of the field while running with the guys in our conference."

Drinkall has spent the last week recovering from cold symptoms and is expecting some chilly weather with lots of rain in the forecast.

He qualified for the national meet by finishing fifth at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championship on Nov. 7.

The advice has kept rolling in whether its from his parents, teammates or an affectionate brother.

"My brother told me don't choke and my teammates told me not to fall," he said with a laugh.

And while he wishes the team would accompany him on the journey to Fort Vancouver, Drinkall feels a sense of pride representing Ashford in just his second year of running cross country.

That's right.

Drinkall didn't run cross country in high school.

His first year of running 8k races was as a sophomore at Ashford and if you would have asked him his remote possibilities of making the national championships, he would've thought you were joking.

"I honestly thought I'd be lucky to get 20th at the conference meet this year," Drinkall said. "But I feel excited and ready to go. I was actually more nervous getting ready for the conference meeting than I am for the national meet."

Graham echoes the same feelings.

"I'm extremely proud of the way Andrew has progressed this year and he's earned this trip," Graham said. "We're excited to get out there and perform well."

Check back to AshfordAthletics.com for a daily blog from Drinkall and Graham beginning tomorrow.