Nov. 12, 2001

TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State's men's and women's cross country teams have each been chosen as at-large selections for the 2001 NCAA Cross Country Championships, NCAA officials announced today.

The Sun Devil women will make their fourth straight NCAA appearance, while ASU's men will make their second team appearance in the last three years. The NCAA Championships are hosted by Furman University in Greenville, S.C., Monday, Nov. 19.

The men's 10,000-meter and women's 6,000-meter NCAA races will feature 31-team fields, including 18 teams that automatically qualified as top-two finishers in their respective regional championships, plus 13 additional at-large selections.

ASU's women's team finished third and the men's team finished fourth at the West Regional Championships, Saturday, Nov. 10, following third and second place finishes, respectively, at the Pac-10 Championships, Oct. 27.

On the men's side, at-large selections from the highly competitive West Region include Oregon, UC Santa Barbara and Arizona, in addition to ASU. Stanford and the University of Portland are the automatic qualifiers from the West.

On the women's side, West Region at-large selections include Washington and UCLA, as well as ASU. Stanford and Arizona are the NCAA automatic qualifiers.

Last year at the NCAA Championships, the Sun Devil women established an ASU record with a sixth-place team finish, led by fifth-place finisher Lisa Aguilera. The women made a steady improvement from their 12th-place national finish in 1999 and their 23rd-place finish (tie) in 1998.

ASU's men have appeared as a team at the NCAA Championships only once, placing 14th in 1999. Last year, the Sun Devil men finished the season ranked 24th in the nation, yet did not receive an at-large NCAA selection.

Each of ASU's combined six NCAA team appearances have come under Head Coach Walt Drenth, who was hired in 1996.

Going into next week's NCAA Championships, ASU's women are ranked 10th nationally according to the latest FinishLynx poll released today. The new men's MONDO poll will not be released until tomorrow, but the Sun Devil men ranked 14th in the poll prior to regionals.

2001 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Monday, Nov. 19, 2001
Greenville, S.C.

Women's Field
Arizona
Arizona State*
Arkansas
Boston College
Boston University*
Brigham Young
Brown*
Colorado
Colorado State*
Columbia*
Cornell*
Dartmouth*
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Marquette*
Michigan State
Minnesota
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Northern Arizona*
Notre Dame
Oklahoma State
Providence
South Florida
Stanford
Texas
UCLA*
Villanova
Virginia*
Washington*
Yale*

Men's Field
Air Force*
Alabama
Arizona*
Arizona State*
Arkansas
Brigham Young*
Butler*
Colorado
Colorado State*
Dartmouth
Duke*
Georgetown
Michigan
Michigan State*
Minnesota
Nebraska*
North Carolina State
Northern Arizona
Notre Dame
Oklahoma State
Oregon*
Portland
Providence
Stanford
Tennessee
Texas
UC Santa Barbara*
Villanova
Wake Forest*
William & Mary
Wisconsin*

* - at-large selection