Hanover to Host NCAA Cross Country Championships
November 18, 2008
HANOVER, IN - Hanover College will host the 2008 NCAA Division III men's and women's cross country championships Saturday, Nov. 22.
Each of the two championship races, held at the L.S. Ayres Athletic Complex, will include 280 runners from colleges and universities across the U.S. The men's eight-kilometer race will begin at 11 a.m. The women's six-kilometer event will start at noon.
The 2008 national championships will mark the second time the NCAA selected Hanover as the locale for its season-finales. The college also hosted the 2003 nationals at the Ayres Complex.
"The NCAA was very pleased with our efforts with the 2003 championship," noted Athletic Director Lynn Hall. "I think it is a testament to head coach Josh Payne, all of the athletic staff, and the wonderful volunteers who made the event so successful."
Each championship race will include 32 teams, with seven runners per squad, and 56 individuals from additional schools. The 32 teams in each race will include 16 teams, two from each of eight regions, which automatically qualify in regional events. Also, the NCAA national committee selected 16 at-large teams from among the top five teams in each regional meet.
The top seven individual competitors in each regional race, not associated with a qualifying team, also earned a place in the championship field.
Manchester College junior and HCAC Champion Andy Williams (Middlebury, Ind./Northridge) finished 11th overall at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Otterbein to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, finishing the 8K course in a time of 25:25.
Franklin College's Brandon Welti (Sunman, Ind./Milan) became the first men's cross country runner from Franklin to qualify for the NCAA national championship with his 16th place finish at the Great Lakes Regional. Welti finished the course with a time of 25:28.
The 2003 championships at Hanover marked the first time in NCAA history that athletes from the same school captured individual titles. Wartburg College (Iowa) runners Missy Buttry and Josh Moen each won their respective events. Calvin College (Mich.) earned the men's championship and Middlebury College (Vt.) won the women's team title.
New York University won the men's championship in 2007. The University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Tyler Sigl was the individual champion. Amherst College (Mass.) earned the women's team crown in 2007. Willamette University (Ore.) runner Sarah Zerzan won her second straight individual title in the event.