Nov. 20, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee announced today the team and individual qualifiers for the 2003 Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships.

In order to be eligible to participate in the championships, teams and individuals must qualify in their respective NCAA regions.

Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large.

Thirty-eight individuals, the first four from each region whose teams did not advance to the championships race, and two additional qualifiers, were selected to participate in each championship. All individual qualifiers must finish in the top 25 in their region.

The University of Northern Iowa will host the 2003 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, November 24, at the Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course, Waterloo, Iowa. The men's race will begin at 11 a.m. Central time followed by the women's race at 12:15 p.m.

The following teams and individuals were selected to the championships:

Men's Individual Automatic Qualifiers

Great Lakes Region
Teams: Michigan, Wisconsin
Individuals: Thomas Frazer, Butler; Todd Mobley, Notre Dame; Tim Moore, Notre Dame; Gavin Thompson, Eastern Michigan

Middle Atlantic Region
Teams: Georgetown, Villanova
Individuals: Tristan Colangelo, Princeton; Andre Laboy, St. Joseph's; Dan Mazzocco, Penn State; Ryan Sheehan, St. Francis (Pa.)

Midwest Region
Teams: Minnesota, Oklahoma State
Individuals: Benson Chesang, Kansas; Matthew Chesang, Kansas State; Brian Raye, Iowa; Brent Wilberts, Drake

Mountain Region
Teams: Colorado, Northern Arizona
Individuals: Mircea Bogdan, UTEP; Antony Ford, Montana; Jonathan Gibson, Montana State; Mike Nielson, Utah State

Northeast Region
Teams: Iona, Providence
Individuals: Xavier De Boissezo, Colgate; Jeff Gaudette, Brown; Lucas Meyer, Yale; Steve Sundell, Columbia

South Region
Teams: Florida State, Georgia
Individuals: Tim Kelly, Tennessee; Steve Kocsis, Chattanooga; Kyle Rabbitt, Georgia Tech; Steve Zieminski, Florida

South Central Region
Teams: Arkansas, Texas A&M
Individuals: Dalibor Balgac, Southern Methodist; Westly Keating, Texas-Pan American; Paul Morrison, Texas; Michael Thompson, Stephen F. Austin

Southeast Region
Teams: Kentucky, North Carolina State
Individuals: Caleb Bailey, Western Carolina; Terah Kipchiris, Coastal Carolina; Scott Shaw, Clemson; Sean Stevens, Wake Forest

West Region
Teams: Cal Poly, Stanford
Individuals: Forest Braden, Boise State; Erik Emilsson, UCLA; Branden Fuller, Eastern Washington; Jeff Gardina, UC Santa Barbara;

Men's At-large Qualifiers
Teams: Air Force, Arizona, Brigham Young, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Indiana, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, Oregon, Portland, Virginia, Washington, William & Mary
Individuals: Jochen Dieckfoss, Boston U.; Nathan Flores, Steven F. Austin