Charlotte will take on the best in the nation in a pre-Championship test this weekend. |
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Cross Country Excited for Pre-Nationals
Oct. 13, 2004
Terre Haute, Indiana - The 49er men's and women's cross country teams will try to build their case for the postseason this weekend against a majority of the nation's best at the Pre-NCAA Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 16.
The meet will be held on Indiana State University's LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the same site that will host the NCAA Championships five weeks later on Monday, November 22.
The equally-halved men's and women's races include 23 women's and 24 men's top-30 ranked teams altogether. Both Charlotte teams will try and pile up head-to-head wins against other top teams nationally to improve their cases for potential at-large NCAA invites. Only the top two teams from each regional (held November 13) automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, while 13 other teams earn at-large wild-card slots based on records against other accepted or potential NCAA qualifiers.
Senior Ed Schlichter and the youthful 49er men, including three newcomers, continue their effort to race well at the national level. The 49ers placed 13th two weeks ago in the Nike Race of Champions at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, NC.
The 49er women are led by a powerful duo up front in junior Jane Daniels and sophomore Tsehaye Dagnachew. The rest of the team's equally young corps is sophomore and freshman heavy, and will also be challenged by the nation's top teams.
Around the corner is an off-weekend before the 49ers head to Chicago to compete in the Conference USA Championships, hosted by DePaul University, on Sat., Oct. 30.
THIS WEEK'S MEET INFO
Meet: Pre-NCAA Invitational
Location: LaVern Gibson Championship Course
Distance: Men-8K (5 miles) / Women-6K (3.7 miles)
Host: Indiana State University
Results Website: www.indstate.edu/athletic/cross
Women's Field: Eight top-10 teams (No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Colorado, No. 5 Notre Dame No. 7 ASU, No. 8 UNC, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Missouri); 23 top-30 teams; 29 of 38 teams receiving votes in national poll.
Men's Field: Eight top-10 teams (No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Iona, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Colorado, No. 7 Georgetown, No. 8 N.C. State, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Butler); 24 top-30 teams; 37 of the 47 teams receiving votes in national poll.
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