 |
Butler Men Earn NCAA Cross Country At-Large Bid
Nov. 18, 2002 The Butler men's cross country team will compete in the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship for a second consecutive year. The Bulldogs earned an at-large bid to the national meet, which will be held at 1:15 p.m., on Monday, Nov. 25, at Indiana State University. The Bulldogs were one of seven at-large teams picked from the Great Lakes Region. Also selected out of Butler's region were Central Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. The Great Lakes Region boasted more than half of the 13 at-large bids awarded to this year's national meet. Butler earned its bid by placing seventh in the Great Lakes Regional Meet, hosted by Purdue University. Senior Mark Tucker paced the Bulldogs with a third place individual finish in 30:32 on the 10K Purdue Varsity Cross Country Course layout, and all five of Butler's scoring runners placed among the top 40 finishers in the 210-runner field. Wisconsin won the 31-team competition, while Eastern Michigan finished runner-up. Both teams earned an automatic bid to the national meet. The Bulldogs placed 23rd at the NCAA Cross Country Championship last year. Three runners from last year's squad return this season, led by senior Marty Fedmowski, who placed 53rd in the 2001 NCAA national meet. Also back from a year ago are senior Brad Bennett, who was 144th in the NCAA meet, and junior Brian Dunn, who placed 151st. |
