Nov. 15, 2004

INDIANAPOLIS - The Baylor women's cross country team received one of 13 at-large berths into the NCAA Cross Country Championships the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee announced today. The selection marks the second consecutive year the Baylor women's team will run for the team title at the meet.

"I am extremely pleased that we were selected as one of the at-large participants to run in the championships," head coach Todd Harbour said. "The team overcame a lot of adversity this season in order to make it to this point. Several runners stepped up their performance throughout the year in order to give us a chance to get into the championships."

Baylor just missed out on receiving an automatic berth into the championships when the Bears finished third at the NCAA South Central Regional last weekend. However, based on who Baylor defeated throughout the year, the Bears earned one of the 13 at-large spots into the championships.

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.

Indiana State University will host the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, November 22, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, Terre Haute, Indiana. The women's race will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern time followed by the men's race at 12:15 p.m.

2004 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women's Automatic Qualifying Team
Arizona St. - West Region
Arkansas - South Central Region
Brigham Young - Mountain Region
Colorado - Mountain Region
Columbia University - Northeast
Duke - Southeast Region
Georgia - South Region
Illinois - Midwest Region
Michigan - Great Lakes Region
Missouri - Midwest Region
North Carolina St. - Southeast Region
Notre Dame - Great Lakes Region
Providence - Northeast Region
Southern Methodist - South Central
Stanford - West Region
Tennessee - South Region
Villanova - Mid-Atlantic Region
West Virginia - Mid-Atlantic Region

Women's At-large Teams
Baylor
Butler
UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
Colorado St.
Idaho
Indiana
Marquette
Michigan St.
North Carolina
Princeton
Wake Forest
Washington