NCAA D-I XC Champs set for Monday in Terre Haute

Friday, November 21, 2008

News and Notes, Volume 8, Number 63

NCAA D-I XC Champs set for Monday in Terre Haute

The 2008 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be hosted Monday for the sixth time by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country course in Terre Haute, Ind. This year's races will be streamed live from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. ET on CBS College Sports at http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=92045.

On the men's side, 2008 Olympian Galen Rupp of the University of Oregon, who finished as the runner-up in 2007, is a pre-race favorite following his astonishing win last weekend at the NCAA West Regional Championships where he ran 27:41 on a course just shy of 10 km. With five All Americans and seven runners who have participated in the NCAA Championships in the past, the Oregon men are considered one of the favorites to the men's team title.

Challengers to Rupp include Liberty's Sam Chelanga, a third-year sophomore from Kenya via Farleigh Dickinson who is 5-0 this year, and Oklahoma State's German Fernandez, the 2008 Big 12 champion. Challenging Oregon for the team title should be Oklahoma State, Stanford and Wisconsin.

The dominant Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech looks to win her third consecutive title on the women's side. Kipyego is undefeated in cross country over her entire collegiate career. The Washington women are favored over Stanford to win the team title heading into competition on Monday. Five of the Huskies women competed in either the U.S. or Canadian Olympic Trials last summer and they placed five runners in the top seven at last week's West Regionals. Top teams to challenge Washington include Oregon, Florida State, Princeton and West Virginia.

Slippery Rock to host D-II XC Champs

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania will host the 2008 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, November 22, at Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Penn. The men's race will begin at noon Eastern Time followed by the women's race at 1:15.

The Abilene Christian men, currently ranked #2 in the country by USTFCCCCA, will look to win their third-straight team title while the #1 ranked Adams State women will be racing towards their sixth consecutive team crown. The Adams State men, ranked #1, and Harding will challenge for the team title on the men's side. For the women, #2 ranked Grand Valley State and #3 ranked Augustana (SD) will try to overtake Adams State.

NCAA DIII honors up for grabs in Hanover

New York University and Amherst College will look to defend their respective men's and women's team titles Saturday, November 22, at the 2008 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at the L.S. Ayers Complex in Hanover, Ind. The men's race will begin at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time followed by the women's race at noon.

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, severn-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regions, for a total of 16 teams. Sixteen additional teams were selected at-large.

Cortland State is currently ranked first in the nation on the men's side while Middleburry leads the rankings for the women's teams.

For more information and complete results from the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships, visit www.ncaa.com.

Source: USATF